By Daniel Brock
I will never forget my first summer school accounting class that I took as a freshman. Never had I imagined that I would actually want to take summer school, but it was a great way to get into the business school early, so it seemed like a no brainer.
As soon as I walked into the classroom, there stood my accounting professor that gave off the vibe of a Russian drill sergeant. Then she spoke with her European accent and with almost no introduction began teaching. I remember almost feeling overwhelmed by her intense passion for accounting and spouting off her future famous phrase “Scholar of mine!”
I was always to afraid to ask her questions or go to her office hours. I felt that she would be mad at me for not following exactly what she did in the classroom. However, it was not until after my first exam, which I didn’t do so hot on, that I actually went to see her for help.
She sat down with me and went over the entire first test. She even bought me a bagel because it was lunch time. She had gone out of her way to make sure that I understood everything on that test. Her name was Lilliana Hickmann-Riggs and she would soon become my favorite professor ever.
By going to her office hours, I had the chance to actually get to know her and understand how simple her teaching style was. One time I even went to office hours and she told me her whole life story, which went on to inspire me to be an accounting major. Her stories always filled me with motivation and made me psyched to be an accounting major.
Professor Hickman-Riggs and I still keep in touch and I always try to see her at least twice a semester. Anytime I see her in the business school’s bagel shop, she sits me down and buys me a bagel so we can catch up. She has been an invaluable asset to me over my college career, giving me much needed advice and writing me over a dozen recommendation letters.
I guess the moral of the story is always be open minded about the professors you get in college. You never know if they might become your favorite professor so far.