While having lunch with a colleague at a café in Kansas City, Dr. Jane Wood recognized the face of the young woman who came up to her. Though Wood couldn’t recall the woman’s name, it turned out that she was a former student, who exclaimed how Wood’s class changed her life.
While in school, the student thought she wanted to be a paralegal, but her goals shifted after taking Wood’s Social Justice Issues class where she was encouraged to consider becoming an attorney. The student decided to follow that advice. She told Wood about all the wonderful things she had been doing and how appreciative she was for Wood’s influence in her life.
“Those are the moments that you tuck away and hold on to in your heart,” Wood said.
Since then, she has moved more into an administrator role, which she enjoys because of its role as the base that supports and allows people to go out and do good work with students on campus and in the community. Wood explained that providing stability and structure helps others feel comfortable with what they are doing and that the college is there for them.
Aside from her administrative duties, Wood loves to read, especially detective fiction. Some of her favorite novels include Betty Smith’s “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” which is a story about a girl’s journey growing up as an immigrant in Brooklyn, Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway,” which follows the life of a high-society woman after WWI, and “How Green was my Valley,” in which Richard Llewellyn tells a story about a mining family in Wales.
Wood said she has been inspired by multiple stories about how Bluffton has been transformative in students and faculty’s lives and in the community. She said wants to continue this good work so that the stories of transformation continue.
In particular, she pointed to cross-cultural opportunities as one area in which this student transformation may occur. This component of student’s education is “unique and innovative,” Wood said.
Wood is familiar with the benefits of cross-cultural learning. She has her own experiences taking students to countries such as Germany and Poland a part of a class on the Holocaust. Talking with the people there and going to places like concentration camps reinforced Wood’s understanding of the importance of the experiential piece of education.
“After the trip, the students had all these things to think and talk about in ways that simply reading and discussing the material, did not bring to life,” Wood said.
While, those who are graduating will not be students during this next chapter in Bluffton history, Wood encourages soon-to-be graduates to continue to stay connected. After going out into the world and learning all kinds of remarkable things, it is also meaningful to giving back to students who are coming up after you.
Ultimately, Wood said she hopes to continue to create an environment in which the campus and the community can start to dream. However, she said dreams without a structure underneath are just ideas and that she plans to put some practical legs underneath it.
Photo by Claire Clay
