"Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window."
-William Faulkner

This last week, I was privileged enough to sit down with San Diego State's Catherine Hoffman, a professor in the Rhetoric and Writing Department and known personality. We struck up a conversation about inspiration, and what the grit of the ideology really means.

Professor Hoffman tells me that she found inspiration from both her parents, but for various different reasons. Her father, an award-winning scientist, teacher and administrator with a long list of accomplishments, held a high passion for teaching. What set him apart, however, was the ability to encourage and challenge simultaneously, both inside and outside the classroom. Hoffman remarks that he was able to build and cultivate programs as an administrator, serving as a testament to his management skills and just personality. A truly timeless intellectual, he always remained humble and up-to-date.