Testimonials
"I have truly been inspired by few people in my twenty years. Among these people is my professor, Otilia Gaidos. Through her raw passion for teaching, she has brought me through a crossroad. Three days a week I wake up in anticipation to learn. I imagine the ways that my mind will be opened to parts of the world that I have never seen. I chose to take her International Relations class knowing that I will not receive any credit towards my degree at the school I am transferring to. I made this choice to spend my own money because I see the value in learning without the presence of a hoop to jump through. I smile thinking about the passion that Otilia personifies; it is contagious. I believe Otilia realizes that sometimes teaching can be just a drop in the bucket and yet she continues to teach with an intensity that is rare among the professors at [this college.]
Every hour and a half our class spends together we are co-conspirators in understanding theories and current events. Otilia leads engaging discussions in which she responds to each remark with affirmation. She has confidence in our intelligence, which has been especially powerful for me. I came to [this college] after I had been marginalized by the education system. I had little confidence in my academic ability. Otilia has given my confidence a jump start. I dropped out of high school, and this college has been my test run in terms of my college career. Through my experiences in Otilia's classroom, my desire to move forward with my education has been revived. I will be moving on to a university to study politics.
A [college professor] of this caliber should not be overlooked. This world needs more people to inspire my generation, as we are suffering from a disease called apathy. Before encountering this class, I did not even read the newspaper; instead I let my interest in the world be replaced by the noise of mindless television. When we learn, it wakes us up to the realization that we must take advantage of our opportunities. My television no longer occupies the air waves of my life. It is all because I have a passion to not only know what is going on in the world but to understand it.
Otilia has passion. I have found my passion. Life is about more than getting the grades that lead to a degree, which then is a ticket for a job that will buy the things that we want in life. Instead, it is about letting our passions guide our steps in order to make a positive impact in this world. I am just a drop in a very large bucket, but I know that even a drop can make a difference; a realization that came from Otilia teaching me how to believe in something."
J.H
"Instead of having us mindlessly regurgitate the information from the text, we were encouraged to engage with it and to challenge our preconceived notions of history. [Otilia] especially got us to see the interconnected nature of past, present and future events through historical case studies and lively discussion that went beyond class literature.
While taking her U.S. History course, I consistently found myself challenged and fascinated by Otilia's through examination of the 19th and 20th centuries. While we covered a variety of periods and events, we were also encouraged to focus on specific historical problems that intrigued us personally. This made the process of doing research and composing papers both educating and rewarding.
Otilia's Ethnic Studies course, while not my main field of interest, was an even more profound and educating experience for me. Otilia once again went beyond the textbook by sharing her wealth of experience and unique perspective on American culture. As she helped us understand the depth of the interesting yet beautiful matters concerning immigrants, ethnicity, minorities and assimilation, I regularly found myself reevaluating my own beliefs and understanding of these issues. This was further fostered by the daily journals we [chose to write] that provided us with a consistent outlet for reflection on what we learned and discussed in class.
Otilia Gaidos is not just an instructor, but someone who inspires her students. Effortlessly, she was able to establish rapport with her students, [something] that made us both comfortable and motivated to engage with the material. As someone who is going to school to be a history teacher, I find Otilia's teaching style incredibly effective and fun. I consider her to be the best instructor I have had the pleasure of learning from, and she is someone I wish to emulate when I become an educator."
T.D.
"I was consistently impressed with how comfortable and approachable she was with her students; Ms. Gaidos clearly has a solid rapport with them ... she managed to consistently hold students to a high level of scholarship ... She encouraged participation without sacrificing scholarship or intellectual rigor ... [This was] an excellent and compelling class led by an excellent instructor."
D.S.