Belmont University | FYI


May 2, 2008

IT'S ALL BELMONT TO ME - Belmont FYI Feature Profile of the Week


Show We Care

Bonnie Smith.jpgThis week’s Belmont FYI feature profile of the week has been a part of the Belmont community for five years. Bonnie Smith was nominated for the first guiding principle – Show We Care – for her work as Director of the Writing Center.

What Bonnie enjoys most about her job is being a part of Belmont’s story. “In my life as an English professor and director of the Writing Center, my days at Belmont are full of stories – stories we read, stories we compose, stories we tell about ourselves as writers, and stories we are forming in our lives together in this community,” Bonnie said. “I’m so grateful to be a listener, a reader, and sometimes even a teller!”

For Bonnie, to show we care means taking the advice “show, don’t tell.” “Like the word ‘love,’ I think the word ‘care’ is best used as a verb, and I generally believe verbs are the most interesting parts of speech,” Bonnie said. “I’m extremely motivated by students and colleagues who show me they care about their work, each other and the world.”

Bonnie also says that she tries to show she cares by stopping, noticing and listening. “I try not to get bogged down in the past or the future but to take a lot of deep breaths and be mindful of the student, colleague, paper, book, committee or class that’s in front of me.”

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The Belmont FYI Feature Profile of the Week will continue in August 2008 with the beginning of the fall semester.

Do you know a Belmont employee who embodies one of the five Guiding Principles? Nominate them for a Belmont FYI Feature Profile of the Week! Please send their name and a brief description of how they meet the criteria to the It's All Belmont to Me Committee for consideration.

To read more about Belmont's service initiative, click here to view the "It's All Belmont to Me" Web site. This Web site will explain the history, training and other elements of this program.


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