Miriam Witmer, Ph.D.

I think part of me really believes that it's overcoming some adversities, right? That kind of pushed you - it's like, I gotta do better, I gotta be better, I gotta, you know - and so I kind of want to see that as a positive, you know, that has gotten me where I am now. And I think, like I said, you know, my advice to other people is surround yourself with your people, right? And so I give a lot of credit to, you know, my friends and colleagues who have, you know, walked down this road with me, and we've helped each other through some of those things. So I think that those are, you know, I think you need to have faith in friends and family. And you can pretty much do anything you want, you know? Overcome a lot if you have those sort of things in your life.

Well, it's probably get that doctorate. It was like, that will open up doors for you, you know? And it has. I mean, it's just a weird... you know, because for a while, I'll be honest, I was like, I've been teaching for all these years, and my street cred should be worth something, you know, at higher ed, and I didn't get why - why do I need a piece of paper that tells me all this, you know, that gives me this credibility? But then when I got into my doctoral program, I really understood that it is about, like, growth on a whole different level, you know? It's the academic, of course, but it's also this sort of critical thinking that I was able to improve, and, you know, so... and then it has opened doors. I don't know how much... it used to be that we used to say that people who have a PhD are, like, 1% of the population. I don't know that that's accurate right today, but it's still a small percent of the population that achieve that. So, you know, that feels kind of good, but that wasn't the reason - that's why I was like, I don't need the piece of paper. But I think that the personal growth and the professional growth, for sure, that I achieved through that process was really, really significant.

Well, I would say, find your people. You know, it's a challenging career, so you need to find your people who are like-minded, and people who are going to help you thrive in it. I would say that this is the best profession ever, because you have so many, like I said, of those opportunities, you know, to really affect change in a person, but also in our society. When you think about the type of connections that you can make with the students and the challenges that you can put forth, and... I mean, I love teaching my high school students, but, you know, people kept saying, you're Teacher of the Year, why would you go to college and not be teaching? And I go, well, I am teaching, I'm teaching teachers, so I can spread the love, right? Share, you know, more with them who are going to go out and be a positive influence on their students.

The opportunities are that you can make a positive difference in the world, right? So I have the great fortune of working with, you know... I work with graduate students, too, but the bulk of my students are, like, 19 to 23, you know, and they, you know, I tell them there are great hope of the future, because, you know, we have these really rich dialogues in class, and then they get it, you know, they get it when we talk about inequities in school and that sort of thing, and I just feel like they are the change that we need, so I really try to encourage that, and so I have an opportunity to meet with those people and to learn from them, and also hopefully to inspire them to change systems that are inequitable in education. And so that also leads into the challenges, right? Now with a lot of the federal mandates and things like that, diversity, equity, and inclusion have become bad words. And so people are pulling back, and they're afraid to do the work, and, you know, or at least talk about it, and so that's been a huge challenge, because, you know, it's like, a number of us, that's been our life's work, kind of pushing that agenda forward for, you know, the betterment of our society, and then this has been, you know, a challenge.

I would say respect is a big one. That's the one that crosses both areas, right? Personal and professional. I would say I really value... I mean, I've been talking about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. I really value that, and see diversity as an asset, and try to promote that, you know, wherever I am. Not perfect at it, but, you know, try to make it happen in all my spaces. I think I always talk about, like, six degrees of separation with my students. Like, we're connected. If we talk to each other long enough, you know, we'll find a place, or a person or an idea that we're connecting on. To me, that means that we have a responsibility to each other. And if everybody, I think, had that sort of sense of, I'm responsible to support this person, or, you know, if I come in contact with people, I'm there for them, that we would have a really, really cool world. So, I believe in, in sort of that philosophy, if you will. Caring for others, and I know that fits in with my mentoring, right? All that stuff ties together.