By Andy Goodell
One Day for Iowa proved to be much more than a giving campaign for the college. It was a chance for alumni and friends of the college to choose to donate in honor of a teacher that touched their life in a positive way.
These educators could be anyone from a kindergarten teacher to a graduate school professor, just someone who made an impact on the life of the person donating.
Shu-I Chang (PhD ‘97) gave in honor of her mentor, Associate Professor Carolyn Colvin. Colvin served as Chang’s academic advisor and would later become Chang’s dissertation chair.
Carolyn Colvin
“This is a really great opportunity for us to say, ‘thank you’ to our professors,” says Chang. “I cannot say, ‘thank you’ enough to Dr. Colvin. I learned so much from her about academic writing. I couldn’t finish my dissertation without her great help. I couldn’t become who I am today without her.”
Today, Chang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages at National Chiayi University in Taiwan.
Colvin says it was humbling to have a former student make a donation in her honor during the One Day for Iowa campaign.
In the years since Chang graduated, she and Colvin have kept in touch via e-mail and letters.
“I know I learned as much from her as she says she learned from me,” says Colvin. “I think a true mentoring relationship is one where the advisor and the student collaborate together on ideas and shape a dissertation project. It’s a dissertation I’m proud of.”
Thank a teacher who has touched and transformed your life. Visit: uifoundation.org/education click on the gold “Give to Iowa” bar and enter the teacher’s name in the giving instructions.