The ones who inspired me to play and teach music
Professor Straka was a great inspiration. To me, he was the epitome of goodness. He made me want to be as good as possible. I felt so honored and inspired when he called me in after band to tell me how pleased he was with my bassoon playing. I always pictured music as people when I was playing. It’s so amazing how a little praise can drive a person to strive and work for better results. Another professor that I liked was Mrs. Titus. She was so nice and caring. When I told her problems with student teaching, she said it is good to pray about our teaching difficulties.
- Nancy Luxon Tjornhom

First encounters with ecology
In the first five minutes of the first class of Hildegarde Johnson’s Human Geography class, she defined a word I’m sure none of us had EVER heard before: E-CO-LO-GY pronounced in her distinctive German accent. It rings in my ears still… and, now “ecology” is practically a household word!
- Margy Adams Nichols

Becoming excited about learning
I hated English in high school and barely received passing grades, so when I got to Mac, I was required to enroll in a basic English class that met five times a week. I learned more in that first year than in my previous four years in high school thanks to the English instructors, Pat Kane, Mildred Langfeld and Beverly White. I ended up making English my minor subject. Other professors that inspired me were Forrest Young (Economics), Waldo Glock (Geology), Gordon Harrison (Spanish) and Professor Armajani.
- Jim Tjornhom