At Least One Student

 I think there was a time when I was widely and wildly popular with students (and I don't think I'm romanticizing my teaching career), with a few students who actively disliked me and the majority who liked me a lot - and then a few years ago it switched and now most students dislike me and a few like me a lot; which I guess is more proof that it was time to retire. One of the few students who really liked me over the last few years is the excellent Leah Baker, who took me three or four times. She even dragged her boyfriend (not fiancé) out to Adamant for one of my Vermont Philosophy Week Talks a few years ago. I had been presenting on Proust, and I tend to mention Proust so often in class that she had eventually borrowed a copy of Swann's Way (which in the end I just gave to her - I mean, come on, who drags their boyfriend out to Adamant to listen to a talk on Proust? That's pretty epic.). Anyway, Leah is one of my all-time favorite students. Today, completely out of the blue, she emailed me to let me know that they had just moved to Nashville, and she wanted to send me a picture of a section of her bookcase which features books that I either gave to her or suggested to her. She told me that she's having trouble tracking down copies of all the volumes of Remembrance of Things Past, which is not surprising, since most bookstores only stock Swann's Way (to their shame). I think I've found a new home for my old complete copy of Proust.

So, the moral of the story is that at least one student liked my classes.