I think it’s a great idea to take the time to thank the professors who taught you the most each semester. It’s a habit I picked up on after my first semester at MSU when I sent a long email thank-you to my JRN 108 professor.
After I received very positive feedback from the email (it also may be the reason I have my job as a student writer at University Relations), I figured it would be a good idea – not just from a professional or networking standpoint, but also from a feel-good standpoint.
Professors feel great knowing that they’re appreciated and that their hard work has paid off and that their teachings and advice didn’t go in one ear and out the other. And it feels great to me, being able to explain my appreciation and being the source of their happiness. (I’m a very positive person, what can I say!)
But for JRN 203 my instructor Karl Gude, there was a slight problem in the email approach. Karl has over 13,000 unread emails in his inbox.
The only surefire way to communicate with him throughout the semester has been through Twitter – sending 140-character messages to the JRN203 Twitter account.
But 140 characters wasn’t enough for an adequate thank-you. So I got creative. Some may say too creative.
I spent several days making a thank-you video (what better way to thank a “Visualizing Information” instructor?) to send to Karl in a tweet.
I had a ton of fun making it – I included many class jokes (and jokes that only my group members would understand… like my turtle obsession) and even used many of the visualization tools that Karl taught us to make the video.
It was a great way for me to practice using these tools and a great way to thank an excellent instructor.
So without further ado, here’s my visual thank-you:
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