What do Andre and Sandra Bullock have in common?

Earlier this week, I attended the EMU First Annual Celebration of Student Support. Students nominated professors who they feel made a difference in their college career & seeing as I've been teaching for 12 years but never nominated for anything, I figured I better show up because it could be another 12 years before I get nominated for something like this. There are people who get nominated for things like this all the time, & then there are people like Sandra Bullock & me... we're well aware that when we get nominated for things, we best be there.

The last award I won was "Mr. Pretty Legs in a Kilt." That was fun & drunken... this was interesting but w/o the booze. It was a nice ceremony, & I got a fancy certificate to hang on the wall. It's nice to know there is @ least 1 student out there whom I've actually affected in a positive way. In fact, I actually have a feeling there is more than 1, but I can't quantify that. In the previous incarnation of the award, they whittled all the nominees down to 1 winner based on an essay written by the nominating students. In their revamping, they (& I think rightly so) decided that a token for every nominee was better than a cash award for 1. In the end, about 50 of us (5 from the English Dept.) showed up to be recognized. We got a group photo, but I can't find it anywhere yet. In lieu of that, here's a photo of my major award.