Dr. Grinder,

I think you win the Professor I took the Most Classes From award. (I don’t have a trophy to hand over for that, but I’m sure the knowledge you won is enough.) You also win the award for influencing the contents of my current personal library more than anyone else I’ve ever known. You introduced me to Atwood and Alexi. You taught me how to think critically about what I was reading. You made me wonder if it really mattered what authors were trying to say when they wrote, or if it mattered more what people got out of their books. I still ask this question every time I find myself looking for meaning behind the words on the pages I’m reading.

You shared your passion for your favorite things freely. Coffee, music, books, it didn’t matter. If you loved something, you shared that love with so much enthusiasm, that it was hard not to share in it. It is because of you that I have Johnny Cash in my music collection, and that I decided that the only way coffee was good enough to drink black, was to buy freshly roasted beans, and to grind them at home.

You opened your home and your office to your students. I always knew that if I needed help, all I had to do was ask.

Your classes challenged me to think in new ways, and to not be afraid to assert my beliefs. I learned how to discuss things with people I disagree with, and how to shoot down fallacies. (Which has come in SUPER handy.)

Thank you for everything you did for me as my advisor.

Krissy