I believe that one place we can receive the encouragement we need is from the students. There were many instances in which students approached me to thank me for spending extra time to help them understand concepts or creating additional voluntary days where they could come into the lab to get extra hands-on practice and build their confidence. I believe that if we need to want our students to be successful in their field of study, we need to implement a variety of ways to meet each student's needs, and I believe the result of taking extra time for each student, wherever necessary will be that students see that we care for their complete success and many times will somehow verbalize this to us. Sometimes its a simple "thank you". Sometimes they are willing to open up about personal issues, and for me personally, I find great personal value in the idea that someone would trust me with their education as well as with their emotions, and personal struggles. That's what encourages me to keep moving forward.
