Hi friends!
Elie Wiesel (pronounced el-ee vee-ZEL) was a Holocaust survivor, a Nobel laureate, activist and author of more than forty books. But when asked, Wiesel always said, "I am a teacher first."

In his book, Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel's classroom, Ariel Burger (who was Wiesel's TA) recalls a time when Elie Wiesel sang a song, a haunting wordless melody, from his childhood to his students. After class Ariel asked him why he decided to sing in class that day--something he had never done before. His teacher's reply was, "Sometimes we must move beyond words...teaching and learning do not only happen through the sharing of information; there must be an added element...I felt like something was missing: the melody. So I decided to sing."

Ariel Burger then writes: "I thought about this brief conversation over the next few weeks. Now that he mentioned it, I could see that this group of students had been less engaged than others in previous years. It was subtle, but it was so. That moment of song opened some hidden door, and in the class meetings that followed, the discussions were more alive; the students raised their hands more often, they asked deeper questions. It struck me that perhaps they began to share more of themselves because he had shared more of himself."

I don't know that I will record and send any songs at any point during this term, but I might. The more meaningful insight I gain from this story is the importance of me sharing more of myself in our time together--even in an online course. I attempt to let you know me a bit in the Chapter Notes I write, but I would like to offer a daily reflection at the beginning of each module to highlight some belief or understanding that I hold.

Thank you for allowing me to begin our course modules this way this term. I welcome your feedback along the way. On this first module of class, I want to use the reflection to share some of my hopes for our time together.

Here we are. There will likely be others who join us over the next few days. Whenever they enroll, we will welcome them. But for now, at this moment in time, here we are. There is another way to say it: We are here. These words call us to the present and remind us to not miss this present we have been given.

The expectations we hold, the anticipations or dread we experience, the hopes or fears we have—they are all as varied as we are. For some, this course meets a graduation requirement, for others it fulfills an elective option. Some are here for academic or personal or professional growth and development. Others are here to add a few more credits moving you closer to graduation.

I hope we are all here with an openness to learn and change. I hope we have the intellectual humility to recognize that we all have much more to learn and I hope we have the internal courage to change our attitudes and actions when needed. I hope we will not miss this unique opportunity to be in this course together and learn from each other. And I hope we will realize that some of the best learning will be deeper awareness and insights about ourselves.

I believe that profoundly special, maybe even sacred experiences happen when people come together with shared commitments to take full advantage of the opportunities before them. Sometimes an answer to a long-held, maybe troublesome question becomes more clear; more often, we come to realize the profound power of asking better, more fully informed and enlightened questions.

I have had the experience of a student asking if a course is easy or difficult. From my perspective, that is the not the best question. The better question is “Will I learn something that is significant or meaningful?” I take my role as the facilitator in this course very seriously. I am deeply grateful and honored that we get to spend time together this term, and I want to do all I can to help make it a positive and beneficial experience. I am with you and I am for you. And I look forward to learning with you and from you.

So, here we are. At the end of the term and beyond, may we look back and say that it was good that we were here.