Posted: Tuesday, October 27, 2015 9:30 pm
Here at Northwest University we pride ourselves not only in having an engaged student body but also an exceptional staff of professors that teach, guide, and invest in the education of those students. Clinton Bryan, currently in his first semester at NU, is one such professor.
Bryan is a professor in our English department. An avid reader, Bryan loves long walks, live theater, and most importantly, his wife. Clint and Sally Bryan moved here to the northwest from Tennessee where Bryan spent the past few decades as a youth pastor.
As a pastor, he felt that many of those involved in vocational ministry had ceased to put stock in quality communication both within the church and outside of it. Bryan was disheartened by the lack of attention to communication because if we believe that the Gospel of Christ is the most important movement on earth shouldn’t we put our best effort into it, even down to the smallest detail?
He realized he had a choice. He could either complain, or he could do something about it. So, trusting in the will of God and secure in his mission, he decided to take his passion for communication and become someone who could influence a new generation and inspire excellence.
Bryan said his favorite part of teaching is seeing the ‘Aha!’ moment students get when they finally understand a concept and seeing them make connections between material and reality. “When I can help a student make that connection, and I see that light come on in his or her eyes, that’s very gratifying to me,” said Bryan.
Although he has only been here for a short amount of time, he said he has already noticed some positive differences between NU students and the average college student, one difference being their enthusiasm. “The only thing I have to compare it to is teaching at community colleges in the past, and by mid-terms, I was doing well to just coax students to come to class… the fact that today was the halfway point of the semester and all 24 of 24 students were there, it still astounds me. It speaks to the caliber of students here and how seriously they take their studies, and their integrity, and I have enjoyed that thoroughly.”
Bryan said that he wants to encourage the students of NU to be creative “We are most like God when we are being creative,” said Bryan. “God is essentially and inherently creative. Therefore, we need people to use their sanctified imaginations, and write, speak, perform, sing, tell, and proclaim the message of Christ in the most innovative excellent forms possible. When we do that, sure we may face persecution, but it’s the only way we can be a cultural change agent is to offer something that is as good as or better than what the world is offering. So do your best, do it as an act of worship, do it for Jesus, because he is worth the best we can offer.”
We encourage you to get to know Bryan, and NU’s entire faculty this year, either via email or stopping by their office during their office hours.
As we continue through the rest of the semester, heed Bryan’s words:
“Do your best, do it as an act of worship, and do it for Jesus, because he is worth the best we can offer.”
