When setting up my office space I wrestled with what to put on the walls–what do I want people to see when they come in my office? I meet with numerous students and I wanted the space to be a warm and inviting space that would provide a sense of who I am for those meeting me for the first time. The pictures and items on my walls reveal the diverse sides of who I am.
First, there is a picture of my family taken at my son’s wedding a few years ago. I love my family and this is a reminder that the most important things in life are not found in my office but in the relationships outside of it.
![](https://write6x6.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Family-rotated.jpg)
The next set of pictures revolve around Francis Schaeffer–a philosophical thinker. (I am in the Philosophy & Religious Studies Department, after all!)
![](https://write6x6.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Francis-Schaeffer-rotated.jpg)
Schaeffer was a philosopher and public intellectual whose writings I read in high school. He was the motivating factor for me to pursue philosophy and the life of the mind. I keep this quotation from him right above my desk as an inspirational reminder to me….
![](https://write6x6.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Schaeffer-quotation-rotated.jpg)
Next, people will see an art project my daughter and I worked on a few years ago. It’s based on the famous Shroud of Turin and we sought to recreate the image in a unique manner.
![](https://write6x6.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Shroud_Turin-rotated.jpg)
I read an article by literature professor, Nathan Wilson, about how he created a replication of the image by painting on a piece of glass and letting the sun bleach out the negative space. In other words, the dark parts of the image are not a result of being put on a light cloth but, rather, the result of a dark cloth being bleached out except for the areas of the image. My daughter and I tried it in our backyard and it worked!
No GCC office would be complete without a Gauchos flag!
![](https://write6x6.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/GCC-Flag.jpg)
The next two pictures reflect a bit of the fun side of who I am. These are also some of the first items students see when they come into my office. The first is a quotation from the movie “Nacho Libre”–a truly great movie!
![](https://write6x6.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Nacho-Libre.jpg)
And, finally, for the superhero enthusiast there is Batman. My friend drew this for me back in 1989. Michael Keaton’s Batman had recently come out and I was a fanatic. I saw the movie twice on the opening day–one time was at 3 am!
![](https://write6x6.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Batman-rotated.jpg)
Yes, there are the miscellaneous philosophy books and scattered files that accompany any office in our department but the pictures give a picture of who I am in my diversity of personality. They remind me of who I am and I hope give a glimpse of my manifold character to the students who enter.