Prof of Doom

Okay, so I have this journalism professor--his name is Mark Lansbaum. He currently is an editorial writer for the Orange County Register, but he also worked as an investigative reporter for the LA Times in years past. Now that's cool. It's great to have that kind of experience around here. And for the first couple weeks I was entranced by this guy; hung on his every word and smiled sweetly at the journalistic sugar that was being fed to me.

However, after the first few weeks, now, where I am currently, my opinion is a bit altered. Now, I have not lost my respect for the man. He is an unabashed Christian in a painfully secular profession and for that he deserves much admiration.

But, man, does this guy lay it on thick.

It's not so much that he is extremely harsh on us, being honest about our lack of writing skill, or our lack of aggression, or our hesitance to ask questions in class, or our poor choice in newspaper names ("The Chimes?" he says), or our....okay so, his critical style does bug me a little bit. But, man, he could critique us a little more gracefully. He just droans on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on about our mistakes. He makes the newsroom sound like a room of death, is painfully dismal in many of his talks, and talks down to us like we've never published anything in our lives.

.....

Okay, so I feel a little strongly about this.

I suppose, beyond my emotions surrounding this guy, I appreciate what he is trying to do. He tells us he is hard on us because he is trying to help us. I have to admit that I believe him. I also was reminded by a friend that this guy is probably much more graceful than some teachers at secular schools. Good point, I thought. And despite the fact that I feel like he is demanding perfection, I suppose sometimes, for better or for worse, you need people like that in your life to make you better. It's just annoying when you have a teacher who can find anything wrong with absolutely everything (including professional publications, I'm sure). This man is in stark contrast to my biggest mentor here at Biola, Dr. Longinow (Dept. of Journalism Chair), who never has anything but extremely nice and encouraging things to say about me. I suppose we all need that balance in life, right? People to push you on and people to keep you humble.

I would just ask for your prayers. This professor really does discourage me and make me doubt myself. But I think that it is about time I start doubting myself and trusting more in God. Pray that that could happen with a certain amount of ease in my life; that I could accept this professor as a challenge, and not just give up on things. Pray for my peace and pray for my endurance.

Also, pray that God be preparing me for what I am sure is going to be a life-changing experience for me next semester. As some of you have heard, I'll be going to DC next semester for a journalism study program. I'll most likely have a pretty sweet internship that's going to expect a lot from me. I want to trust in God, because it's all pretty intimidating. And it's also really scary to think about what I'll be missing out on at Biola--a semester is a significant amount of time when you realize there's only 8 of them in your four year study.

Thanks,

-mjf