Academic Experience

Transcript

Next, we’re headed to the home of Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business to meet up with Dr. Jonathan Tran. He teaches in the religion department and the Honors College, and he’s excited to share about what compels him to invest in his students, and how the student-teacher relationship at Baylor adds to the student experience. Dr. Tran, you are up.

Thank you, Alex. I’m here at the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation, home of Baylor’s nationally-ranked business school, and one of the top 10 entrepreneurship programs in the country, and I want to give you a professor’s perspective on life at Baylor. There are so many things I love about being on the Baylor faculty. The university does a ton of stuff to support my research as an ethicist, and the campus is chock-full of super smart people doing important, interesting, and innovative research. And who doesn’t like being part of a school with a world-class athletics program? It’s great to have students in your classroom who also excel on the national stage. But, really, what makes teaching at Baylor great are the students. The university has a long tradition of creating amazing experiences in the classroom. There, we bat around ideas that have huge implications for us and the world in which we find ourselves. As a society, we have so many challenges in front of us. We’re learning more and more every day about the challenges and complexities that come with an increasingly globalized world. When I think about the problems, on their own, they can be overwhelming, but when I think about what students are doing to meet these challenges head-on with their dreams, their passions, and their dedication, I think to myself, this is what Baylor is here for. Learning all of this can be a lot, and Baylor is well-known for its academic rigor, but as students begin to put it together and imagine the impact they can have on the world, it becomes all worth it. As an undergraduate moves through her undergraduate education, the university comes alongside her with all these remarkable resources, either for career-planning or helping her get a job or preparing for education at the next level. Baylor has so many outstanding resources, and all the state-of-the-art facilities that come with them, certainly in business and computer science and engineering, and we also produce a bunch of students headed to the frontlines as medical care providers. We also have outstanding programs in the humanities, social sciences, and the arts. It’s the combination of the kind of student that comes to Baylor and the faculty committed to developing their dreams that makes for a truly transformative education. This is absolutely the kinda stuff that gets me out of bed in the morning. I love these students. I love what they’re doing, what they’re thinking through, what they’re dreaming about. It’s amazing to be a part of their lives as they grow into the kind of people that will change our world. Now back to you, Alex.

Dr. Tran, that was great. It sounds like you really have a passion for helping your students achieve their goals. I bet anyone would enjoy taking one, or even two or three of your classes. Keep up the good work, and thanks again.