Walking in Faith and Learning: A Reflection on Teaching, Personality, and Presence

This semester, I am teaching a Learning Frameworks college course that uses a new open-source text filled with resources and self-assessments designed to help first-year college students understand themselves as learners. Through exploring their strengths, habits, and personality types, students begin to see how their unique learning styles can align with their career interests and future pursuits. What I didn’t expect, however, was that in guiding my students on this journey of self-discovery, I would find myself on one as well. The best part of teaching is realizing how much you learn about yourself in the process.

In the Myers-Briggs self-assessment, I am an ENFJ and the description fits me perfectly. This semester, we introduced students to the resource PsychologyJunkie.com, which helps them interpret and apply their personality insights. Reading through my own profile, I was fascinated by the accuracy of the reflections and how much they clarified my motivations and sense of purpose. Understanding my personality type has helped me recognize how deeply I connect my professional work with my personal fulfillment and how vital it is to nurture both. It has also been humbling and inspiring to witness how differently each student engages with these insights, learning more about themselves and their potential.

This year, however, has also brought profound challenges. I have taken on more responsibility, and while my professional influence has expanded, my inner circle has grown smaller. I am still discerning whether this is a healthy trade-off. At the same time, I have become more aware of the passage of time with my own aging and the aging of those I love. One of my most cherished and influential family members has recently been diagnosed with cancer, and I find myself wrestling with uncertainty. For someone who values clarity and order, living in that tension is difficult. Yet rather than allowing fear to take root, I turn to faith, to love, to peace. I trust that life in God is eternal and that even amid uncertainty, the Spirit endures.

This weekend, my reflection centered on Leviticus 19:32–34:

“Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord. When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

As someone who practices Benedictine spirituality these verses resonate deeply. In my role as a professor and academic advisor, I am blessed to serve students from diverse backgrounds, many of whom are immigrants or the children of immigrants. These words remind me to walk by faith and to act with compassion and integrity, even when the national discourse reflects division or indifference. They call me to live with awareness, humility, and love.

Through this, I am learning what it means to understand grace through faith and to trust that every person I encounter is placed in my path for a reason I may never fully grasp. Each student, colleague, or stranger who enters my life may be a quiet messenger of God’s wisdom or love. As Hebrews 13:2 reminds us:

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

May I continue to walk in faith, teach with empathy, and meet each encounter, expected or not, with grace.