For Professor Dr. Marc Smith, education wasn’t a priority until somebody believed in him. Today Smith encourages his students to move forward in their education no matter what.
“I’m a cheerleader in the classroom. That’s something that’s very important to me,” he said.
Smith grew up in Ohio in the Jim Crowe era. When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed, he and his siblings were sent to a school made up primarily of white students. Smith said he got into fights with both white and black students, and he dropped out to join the Air Force in 1972.
Three weeks into basic training, he was told that he needed to finish school in order to move up in rank. He signed up for classes and got his first A’s and B’s in English, an achievement he was proud of.
“Something clicked inside of me and it said, ‘You know, I can do this,’” Smith said.
Though Smith battled with low self-esteem well into adulthood, he became the first person in his family to graduate college and went on to earn numerous degrees.
“I was motivated by positive people,” he said. “Positive people started telling me that I could do these things, and expectations became higher, became greater.”
Smith strives to encourage his own students in a similar way, telling them to stay focused in school and never give up on their education. One way he spurs on his students is by having them read Dr. Seuss’s “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”
“That’s my favorite book because it’s so true,” Smith said.
He keeps a copy the book in his office library. When students come to his office for advice, he’ll often have them read the book before speaking with them.
“After they get done (reading), I tell them ‘You don’t know where you’re going to be in life, but if you quit, you can believe you won’t get there, so don’t quit,’” he said.
Smith said the most important thing he has learned is how important people are, especially family and children. He said he hopes his students learn the importance of respecting others.
“There’s nothing more human, more humane, that you can do than to help another person, be it monetary, with a smile, with some kind of encouragement,” he said. “Nothing is more important than that.”