by Jean Michel Habineza
Not only did the Honors College show the iDebate Rwandan team Southern hospitality, they also provided them with the ultimate academic experience. Students had the opportunity to visit Dr. Michael Hester’s Honors Public Speaking course. During that time, the Rwandan students interacted with the UWG students in groups. Not only were the students impressed with Dr. Hester’s approach to teaching, but Jean Michel Habineza, international coordinator and debate coach, was so impressed that he wrote a blog titled The Teacher I Want to Become:
“On Thursday, we were invited to attend Dr. Hester’s public speaking class. Honestly having spent the day with him and met him the night before, I wondered how his class would be like. When we got to the class, I was so amazed, not at the class but at the teacher that Dr. Hester was. For some reason I thought that once Dr. Hester would get to his class, he would be feared by the students and he would command respect the moment he entered class. But to my surprise, he did command respect but in a different way. The students were not scared or terrified of Dr. Hester, but they respected him.
One of the struggles that I had as a young teacher was the fear that if you were yourself and just relaxed, students would never respect you. Dr Hester showed me that the opposite was true. When Dr. Hester is in class, he does magic. He cracks jokes but with so much wisdom and sarcasm that sometimes you wonder if you should be offended or just laugh.
But on top of that, Dr. Hester has a great relationship with his students. For example, he said that he has a personal relationship with all his debaters, and if they need anything like going to the airport, he drives them there. If they have an issue, they can come to him.
Watching and meeting Dr. Hester showed me the kind of a teacher I want to become. I want to be the kind of teacher that changes and transforms the life of students forever.
Thank you Dr. Mike Hester Ngabonziza for the inspiration.”
Jean Michel Habineza is the international coordinator and debate coach of iDebate Rwanda.
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