Dear AU
Psychology Students—
For the past
four years, we have had the pleasure of being your professors for a wide range
of classes. We’ve had you for Intro,
Adolescent, Developmental, Social, Research Methods, Advanced Research Methods,
and Intimate Relationships, and in each of these classes you have been great
students. This is what makes our move to
Philadelphia so difficult. You have been
wonderful to have in class, work with as advisees, work with on research, and
take to conferences. Professors get used
to seeing students come and go -- graduation is a somewhat sad day for us because
you’re leaving, but it also fills us with pride to see your success. But this feels so much different because we
are the ones leaving. Although we’re
excited about the adventures and challenges that await us in Philadelphia, we
are truly going to miss each and every one of you, and this makes the entire process
thoroughly bittersweet.
This letter
cannot fully capture our thoughts and emotions about leaving, so take our word
that it tears up inside to leave. You’ve
been great students and have validated our reasons for being teachers. We’re going to miss you, but we fully expect
to stay in touch with you. (And to prove
it, here is Mr. Dr. Mattingly’s new email address that will be active within
the next two weeks: bmattingly@ursinus.edu).
Because I (Mr.
Dr. Mattingly) am a teacher through and through, I would be remiss if I didn’t
leave you with one of my favorite sayings.
Hold on to it, use it when it suits your needs, and recite it yourself
to remind you of how grumpy and how much of a curmudgeon I could be!: “You can
disagree with science, but it means you’re wrong.” And if you’d like a less curmudgeony way to
remember us, Mrs. Dr. Mattingly likes to remind students that “When you give it
all you have, you’re a better person for having done it.”
Thanks for
everything, and I hope you had the time of your life.
Brent &
Melinda (a.k.a. Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Mattingly)
