English instructor Tim Green was originally welcomed to NMU to fill an open position left by another professor on sabbatical, but due to popular demand for students studying English, he was allotted another year with the English department. The second year of his term is about to come to a close, and he is reflecting on his time spent at Northern.

“I really just feel grateful for my time here,” Green said with a laugh. “[People at NMU] are just a joy. They are the best part about the school. The faculty, especially in the English department, have been really welcoming. The faculty here don’t seem to get worked up about frivolous things. There’s a real collegial spirit here; we’re all kind of in this together.

“I’m just a temporary guy, but they’ve treated me like a longtime colleague.”

Green spent the early years of his career teaching at the University of Michigan before coming to NMU. He is a native of Texas, and he graduated from the University of Notre Dame. He has a wife and four young kids.

Green shared what attributes of Northern make it stand out from other institutions that he’s been a part of.

“Northern really is a special little place,” Green said. “There’s a sense of community here that you don’t get at bigger schools like [University of] Michigan, where you feel like a number. But here, it’s nice because you can connect with students and faculty… It’s made me realize that this is the kind of school I’d like to end up in.”

Though Green has taught many students throughout his two years at NMU, he has also learned a number of valuable life skills from students and fellow professors.

“I’ve learned about trying to take on too much,” he said. “It’s very easy in this job to try and do too many things, both with teaching and my own work. It’s hard to navigate those things. I’ve learned a lot from the other teachers here about how to carve out time for my own writing, and just [about] navigating the world of higher [education].”

One of Green’s goals when teaching is to get students more involved in his subject of interest.

“I think my job, and any teacher’s great job, is to open students’ eyes to some of these amazing works of literature and great writers who are out there. That’s sort of my goal. If anything, I just hope that the students walk away with a sense of enthusiasm,” Green said, adding, “A teacher’s job is like a soil tiller of a garden, your job is to create the environment in which great opinions and ideas can flourish.”

Green has valued his experiences with Northern students as well.

“I’ve found students here to be very conscientious, very hard working and once you get them talking it can be great,” he said.

Although his time at NMU has been fulfilling, Green now must set his eyes on his next professional endeavor: completing his dissertation.

“I’m ready. I’ve been writing this thing for about nine years,” Green said with a laugh.