An encourager inside and outside of the classroom, Dr. Lawrence Wit practices what he preaches, and students honored him for it.
Auburn professor and Associate Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, Wit delivered the second annual Final Lecture to a packed Student Center ballroom Thursday. Wit, who is famous among students for the mammalian physiology course he teaches, was chosen to present the lecture after juniors and seniors voted him as an outstanding professor to speak.
"The Final Lecture program was created to give students the opportunity to participate in a teaching award given on behalf of the student body, recognizing professors who have made extraordinary contributions to Auburn through teaching and service" said Student Government Association director of The Final Lecture, Rohan Kambeyanda.
Students could nominate any professor, and SGA leaders narrowed those recommended to five exceptional professors. From what students think of Wit, it is obvious why he was chosen to speak.
"You know a professor is doing something right when he teaches one of the hardest classes at Auburn, combines that with some of the most challenging exams and is still one of the most sought after professors," said Steve O'Neil, one of Wit's students and a senior in biomedical sciences. "I have never known a professor to have such a profound impact on his students."
Kambeyanda said that for professors to be nominated to deliver the lecture is one of the largest honors students can give them. The professor chosen delivers an address to students to encourage and inspire both those beginning college and those graduating.
Wit focused his lecture on advising students about the things he wish he would have known when he graduated in 1966. He said one of the most important things graduates can do to be successful after college is to be ready for change.
"Expect change, but embrace it," Wit said.
Wit classified things that will change for graduates by whether they will increase or decrease. To illustrate how expenses increase over time, he said when he was in college, he paid $2 for a movie, 60 cents for gas, 13 cents for a stamp and $540 a year for tuition.
Freedom will also increase, Wit said. After graduation, students won't be required to attend class or take exams, but they will be required to take control.
"Responsibility will increase," Wit said, "probably more than your freedom."
Wit's sense of humor shone as he encouraged graduating students to finish their exams well.
"Some faculty tell you it is just as hard to make a test as it is to take one," Wit said. "They are lying. It's better to give than receive."
Wit's jokes are some of the reasons students love him.
Clay McEntire, who graduated from Auburn in 2007, said taking Wit's class was one his best memories from Auburn.
"There is no doubt in my mind that it was the best class I have ever sat in. Dr. Wit is engaging and inspiring as a professor," McEntire said.
Though Wit is quite humorous, his serious concern for students to succeed is clear.
He spoke about failure, something all students will encounter at one point.
"It's often necessary to fail," Wit said, "but failure is an event, not a person."
Consistently encouraging students using his own experiences, he told how he was rejected form all the schools at which he most wanted to pursue his post-doctorate. However, he was told Auburn was looking for a physiologist to instruct a biology lab. He took the job.
"I was hooked," Wit said. "I loved it. That failure led to something great."
He has enjoyed that greatness of Auburn since then. He has been here for 34 years.
Wit said he always closes his mammalian physiology class at the end of the semester with words of support. He ended the final lecture the same way.
"It's ok to be yourself," Wit said. "We spend too much time trying to be what we're not."
Wit said self-worth is an interesting and debatable topic, but it's not because of how students look or how they perform that makes them worth something to him.
"It's not because of what you do," Wit said. "It's not because of what you look like. It's because of who you are that each of you are $6 million men and women."
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