Best end of the semester feedback from one of my students: "In your class, I can speak up, be horribly wrong, and not feel any less smart."

Floored.

This student told me that they've always loved learning about science but worried the course material would be too difficult for them to handle.

Then they told me they declared their biology major this month.

If I do anything right as an educator, let it be this: to foster a love of learning that overpowers the fear of being wrong.

Being wrong doesn't make you any less capable or smart. Being wrong means there's still more to learn! And thank goodness for that. If we knew everything, well, that would be a pretty boring world