Nicol Gaffney
Nicol in Ecuador with a group of his students
Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if not for having my world turned about due to Ted and Paula’s mentorship. The thought always breeds smiles and appreciation. As their student, I experienced an arc of growth that still continues, a humbling journey that’s the most significant transformation I’ve undertaken. So many of the tools I use in my personal and professional life were incubated with their guidance or compassionate prodding. These tools of thought, practice, and detection can’t help but alter who I am and the experiences I seek.
Much of my five years at Columbia College as a student were spent wrangling. Turns out learning how to take honest responsibility for honest work is consuming. But, something about the experience always kept it a question of “how” and never “why.” I was learning. Really learning. More than the facts or details or theories, I was learning ways to see and present definitions, connections, implications, and gaps in understanding. My thoughts were challenged and furthered, ultimately leading me toward enlightening perspectives. My ideas were given a higher caliber of voice and the confidence to use it. I also learned what a network of real scholars looks like. Taken together, I’d never known such potential.
Ultimately, the potential of my best self was respected. Especially when I wasn’t at my best. The brutal truth I came to see is that respectable work requires a respect for the process. No shortcuts. No excuses. Only genuine academic work and genuine effort, and, if accomplished, the addicting feeling that something meaningful was done. My life that was couldn’t have been ruined in a more fruitful or rewarding way.
So, how has it begun to play out? In 2010, I finally hit the road. My transfer to UC Santa Cruz proved to be a perfect place for me to apply myself. My short two years there were fully grasped: honors, an enlightening thesis project, lasting professorial relationships, and a lot of personal growth. A number of us Ted and Paula students even managed to room together, creating an academically supportive household that’s one of my fondest memories.
Throughout my own learning at UCSC, I took a number of chances to engage the learning of others. As an Academic Mentor on campus, I worked with two Sophomores who were on the verge of failing out. Today, their work has taken them into internships, 4.0GPAs, and a student identity that is allowing them to get the most out of their opportunities. Beyond this, I also gained a view into early education as a 4th grade volunteer in Santa Cruz and as a science teacher at a summer camp in Cupertino.
Currently, I’m wrapping up a successful year living and teaching abroad. Following my desire to learn what can only be learned when away from all those comforts we take for granted, I’ve been living in southern Ecuador and teaching English at one of the two universities here in Loja. The experience has required everything I’ve got, and I’m satisfied with what my students and I have been able to accomplish. The art and science of teaching continually humbles me, and I look forward to taking these novice experiences with me into further educational pursuits.
It’s here I again wonder who I’d be without the quality my education took. A large part of that quality came in my early years with Ted and Paula. Everything that’s followed has been colored by what came before. And what I see is more brilliant because I know where I come from has prepared me for anywhere I may choose to go.
UC Santa Cruz, Anthropology Department