My colleagues and I recently received student survey results from surveys conducted at the end of the Fall semester. Reading these always tends to inspire a bit of unease, as one never knows—even as a veteran teacher—how it’s going to go. What will they say about me this time around?

Despite some of the worry, we recognize that what a student says about our course or our teaching needs to be put in perspective. What they value or don’t value now might not be the case later in life. Though the feedback is usually helpful, it cannot be treated as flawless.  

Thinking about this got me interested in hearing from readers. When you look back now, what courses or teachers were most influential, and did you think that way at the time? Put another way, are there classes or instructors you would have reviewed poorly in high school or college but for which you are now grateful? And if so, why?

Matt Emerson's essays have appeared in a number of publications, including America, Commonweal, and the Wall Street Journal. The Catholic Press Association named his September 2012 essay "Help Their Unbelief," published in America, as the "best essay" in the category of national general interest magazine for 2012. He is the author of the book Why Faith? A Journey of Discovery (Paulist Press 2016).Articles:Fruitful Searching (Jan. 5-12, 2015)Preambles for Faith (May 13, 2013)Help Their Unbelief (Sept. 10, 2012)Posts at The Ignatian Educator