a Mentor has died

Dr. Chris McCarthy, the man who basically got me my job at GCC, passed away this weekend.

This is what I said in a campus-wide email about him.

I’m sure I’m not the only one in total shock over this.

I always thought of him as “Professor McCarthy”; I had the extreme honor
of having him as a professor while attending GCC back in spring of 1999.
I was a member of the Scholar’s Program, and I was a part of his English
102 course, not having a clue who he was in relation to the GCC community.

I still vividly remember a few of his lectures. I had never had a
professor up to that point who displayed such a passion for the subject
material, and he passed on that passion to me. His encouragement and
enthusiasm encouraged me to continue writing; he brought validation to a
shy, young student who had no idea whether or not she was good enough to
be majoring in English.

I’m currently teaching in the classroom where I sat as his student. In
fact, I was there this morning… I don’t even know what else to say… I
had been looking forward to the day I could meet him as a colleague rather
than as a student. I just hope he knew the depth of the impact he made in
my life.

I’m so sad right now. I wonder how his wife is doing. I’m glad I was able to get in contact with him again before his passing… but man. I would have really liked to have seen him again. One of the most encouraging professors I ever had. So kind and dedicated to teaching. He read my essays out loud to the class; no other teacher had done that before.

All I can do now is pray.

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