What can’t she do? Mother, wife, professor at Penn State, and... lead singer in more than one band?! Human Development and Family Sciences Professor Molly Countermine is a very unique figure here at the University. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to speak with her, and I found that she was one of the sweetest, most genuine women I've met in a long time. You don’t come across people like Mrs. Countermine very often.
Along with raising three children, Countermine teaches various HDFS courses at Penn State. She has a strong bond with her students, because what she teaches is about life -- relationships, children, parenthood -- these students are learning from their professor what will come in their future. This familiar relationship gives the students an opportunity to feel comfortable to approach her when it comes to real-life things that are similar. She told me that she is always willing to talk to her students and doesn’t take any situation lightly, but if there is further action needed, she will refer the student to a source who can give that assistance.
Countermine receives much positive feedback from her students. The most rewarding part about her teaching job is when she sees them outside of class and they say, "I understand my relationship with my mom better now because of your class," or, "My boyfriend and I are getting along so much better now because I can explain to him why I feel insecure if he doesn’t text me right back," because that’s what human development is. It’s explaining the reasons why we look at the world the way we do.
Countermine’s students love her so much that they will come to see her play in her band Maxwell Straight at the Phyrst on Thursday nights. She started out in 1999 when she was a bartender at the Phyrst, and really liked the band that was playing. She approached them and told them that she was interested in being a part of their band, and the rest is history.
Connecting Countermine’s role in a band with her role as a teacher has emerged quickly with social media. She says that students will come into class and will have students showing her that she made Penn State Story on Snapchat last night when she was playing with her band.
Countermine calls herself the ringleader to connect the musicians in her band to the crowd. She likes to do this because she is always connecting to students as she teaches, so she doesn’t have a hard time getting the band as a whole to connect to the crowd. When she is out, she likes to take selfies with any students who want to. But she does make it clear to them that she does not give brownie points to students who come to her shows. Whoever wants to come can come, but she does not mix the classroom and her performances in the form of favoritism by any means.
She never has to choose between her day or night jobs, or her job at home as a mother. The only thing that she says is compromised is her sleep, because she is involved in so much. Her husband is in one of her bands with her, and is also a stay-at-home dad, so he can take care of them when she is not home.
I asked her if her students had to describe her in one word, what they would say. She said, “Real... I think they know that I live what I teach -- whether it’s as a mom or a teacher or a musician. Being authentic. Being genuine. Speaking your truth. Saying what you mean. Not being afraid to be sensitive in front of other people. Not being afraid to open your heart. They know that about me. To be given some degree of hope or encouragement that you can be who you want to be without compromising all that you want to be.”
