September 29, 2009 by
I'm roughly one week away from beginning my next quarter teaching Type 1 at the Chicago Portfolio School. The quarters span 11 weeks while the program lasts a full year. I've been instructing this course for a touch over a year now and I think I'm finally finding my footing in regards to what projects work, what students respond to and so on. In the past, when people have asked me why I do it I've usually said something like "I have a knowledge I learned on my own and want to pass it on." But recently I realized it's fairly deeper than that.
Generally speaking, within each quarter I organize and instruct, there's one or two students who start as far away from understanding type in relation to design as I am standing from the Great Wall of China right now. What I love, and try really hard to promote, is taking these students naiveté and turning it into something powerful eye opening. I enjoy letting them converse with each other to find the answers while gently nudging them in the right direction without providing the crutch, or easy way out, many of them look for. The ultimate satisfaction is that moment when you see a student's mind open in realization and appreciation. It truly is a "light switched on" moment and every time I see it I'm reminded of the moment it happened for me as I was forever affected by my profession I barely understood.
So, ultimately, I think I teach (or pass on knowledge, or give back... call it what you will) because I know things, and those things are more useful when given to others as tools to make better things. Better than I ever could. But also for selfish reasons; to relive that moment that keeps me excited about what I do everyday and watch that flash of creativity and understanding. Watching others become more makes me want to do more.
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