I love to have conversations with my students. Not only about technical content but also about their interests. In one of my structural analysis classes, I found out that a group of students had formed a band and were writing their own song. They shared their music with select faculty, and I was simply blown away.
The essence of the song is about friendship and real bonds built during their undergraduate years but also alluding to the fact that they would soon finish school and face the real world. The more touching part, it features a rap about the challenges one of my students faced growing up; how long the trauma persisted, and how real student bonds created in a university setting helped in the healing process. The song is ~7 minutes long, deep and very emotional. In the end, I am happy that our students keep persevering despite the challenges they go through.
Oh, the song also includes a shout out for my class. "....We've got to embrace the moment like it is a distributed load...." Thank you!! (Moment, formally called bending moment, is a key concept in our mechanics courses). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bending_moment
Comments