A college professor’s Thanksgiving message to students is bringing people to tears

One of the fun surprises when you get to college is learning that most college professors are not nearly as scary as your high school teachers made them out to be. Some are tough, for sure, and there are always a few a-holes thrown into the mix, but for the most part professors are smart, compassionate human beings who care about both the academic performance and the personal well-being of their students.

But some take it even a step farther.

A college student on Twitter shared a pre-Thanksgiving e-mail she and her classmates received from a professor, and it’s just the best example of real human-kindness.

It reads:

“Good morning. I know this has been a difficult time for a lot of you—some of you have had Covid, some of you are currently in quarantine, and some of you may not be able to go home for Thanksgiving as you have family members who are socially distancing.

I don’t want anyone to feel alone at Thanksgiving, or to miss out on a homecooked family dinner, so I want to invite you to share my Thanksgiving dinner. I’ve talked with my kids and we would be happy to make extra portions of everything and drop it by your apartment or residence (as long as it’s within a 20 mile radius of ____.) Since we’re all socially distancing we would leave it outside and not have physical contact with you.

I truly want you to take me up on this offer if you are in town. As I mentioned, my kids have been socially distancing and will make the food wearing masks to reduce the likelihood of anything being spread.

My youngest daughter is vegan so there’ll be a vegan option. Check out the menu below.

If you are socially distancing with a roommate or significant other, I’d be happy to drop off two or even three portions.”

It appears from the poster’s bio that this professor is from the University of Iowa. After the tweet went viral, people began asking if there was a way that they could donate to help fun her generous effort. Then came the follow-up: “She emailed me back and said she ‘truly does not want donations’ but is blown away from the response. :)”

The post prompted others to share supportive and generous messages from their own professors, lending further credence to the idea that teachers are genuinely the best people on the planet.

Most of the responses, though, were people who said the email made them teary, as it’s a much-needed example of the kinds of people the world needs more of.

But the truth is there are a lot of people like this out there. My own daughter is a college student and any time she’s been dealing with mental health struggles, her professors have not just been accommodating, but actively and personally supportive. She’s had teachers share their own experiences with her and made sure she knew she wasn’t alone. She’s an A-student, and when her anxiety has spiked, she’s been given the time and grace she needed to work through her struggles without sacrificing her grades. She’s learned that being responsible and being healthy are not mutually exclusive, and that compassion is a key component of learning.

So yes, thank goodness for kind and generous teachers who don’t need to go above and beyond their work with students in the classroom but so often do so anyway. That kind of caring will be remembered far longer than any facts or figures and will go a long way toward building the better world we all want to live in.