I thought I was teaching my students this year.
Turns out, they were teaching me.
Congratulations to the USC graduates who celebrated commencement this spring!
This milestone lends itself to advice I might give to the graduates.
Instead, I’ve been reflecting on what I learned from my students this year in the USC MS in Digital Media Management at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
One lesson came through again and again:
Speak up.
In my Digital Media Leadership class, I started each session with a roll call question tied to the week’s topic. (Hat tip to program director Joseph Itaya.)
So many hands went up that roll call practically ran itself.
The students showed incredible initiative. They spoke up. And it changed the energy of our class every week.
They spoke up in discussions.
In breakout sessions and presentations.
In thoughtful discussions in class.
And in the messages some of them wrote to me at the end of the semester, which I added to a happy file I keep for difficult days.
One message in particular stayed with me.
A student replied to my comment on her LinkedIn graduation post with words so thoughtful they made my week. Maybe even my whole year.
Thank you, Margo Waldie.
My biggest takeaway from this year:
Speaking up is more than participation.
It’s leadership.
What’s something a younger colleague or student taught you this year?
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