Name: David Vacco
Position: Professor, Department of Geosciences
Education:
Master’s degree, Oregon State University
Ph.D, Penn State University
Links: Class biography
What do you teach?
Currently I am teaching GEOSC 10, the Geology of National Parks. I work in the Department of Geosciences, and I teach Introductory Geology, Earth Surface Processes, Climate Change and Glacial Geology. In the past I have taught Earth System, Planet Earth (introductory geology) and a Natural Disasters course. My teaching resume is short, as I have only been teaching college classes as the autonomous instructor for two years.
How did you come to Penn State?
My adviser, Richard Alley, is one of the best in the world at glaciers and climate research. He is a member of the National Academy of Science, and he is frequently on TV for interviews and climate change documentaries. I did my master’s degree at Oregon State University, working on climate change. My master’s thesis adviser, Peter Clark, is a good friend of Richard Alley. When I began searching for places to work on my Ph.D., Penn State was my first choice. Lucky for me, Richard accepted me as his student.
How do your students teach you?
My job is an absolute honor. College students are such bright, young, energetic minds. The teaching and learning process is symbiotic; their purposeful experiences are also my experiences. In that respect, I am not a teacher so much as I am a guide for active learners. Their journey is my journey, and every journey is unique.
What is one piece of advice you would give to the current generation?
Life is short! That is my primary message to the world. Live in the moment. Live without regret. You only live once. Don’t sweat the small stuff, and everything is small stuff. It will be over before you know it. Play it to the bone.
As a young teacher, do you feel the student/teacher dynamics are different? How so?
Interesting question. I often wonder how the students feel about me as their teacher. I know I look youthful; many people think I am a college student myself. Do my students think of me as more of a peer, because I look young? I really can’t say.
From my own perspective, my teacher/student relationships feel perfectly natural. Maybe it’s because I talk too much, but I feel like I have a lot to share with my students. I enjoy sharing my own experiences with them, hoping they can integrate a scientific discourse into their behavior by sharing with them how I think.
I have always marched to the beat of my own drum, so to speak. I think if the learner/teacher relationship is a little different for me, maybe it is more to do with my approach to teaching and learning than my youth. Although with age, I am sure that will change too.
Describe your role as coach of the Penn State Boxing team.
The boxing team has become my family. I have felt that for years. I have a lot of responsibilities for the team. I run practices, teach boxing, design our workout schedules, manage safety, communicate with the other coaches in the league (I call it diplomacy), travel with the team to competitions, and corner our boxers when they compete.
I take on a mentorship role for our boxers. Competing in the sport of boxing is very stressful. Boxers feel great pressure to be in elite condition, and they feel tremendous nerves before a bout. I think my greatest job with the boxing team is guiding our boxers through their hardest trials, watching them grow in the process. They give their best to the team, and I owe them my best in return.
Is teaching college students what you expected?
I have the greatest job in the world. I am one of those lucky few who have achieved the exact career they set out to achieve. It is every bit as fun as I imagined it would be when I chose this career 13 years ago.
I am notoriously not a morning person; I tend to be a little grumpy in the morning. Every morning when I walk to work, cold and grumpy, I always perk up when I think about the fun of my job. I am very lucky to be in this position, and every day, no matter what stress, no matter what series of fires need to be put out, I feel lucky to be a college teacher. Life has gone very well for me so far.
Where do you hope to be in 10 years?
In 10 years I hope I am a father, and happily married. With luck, I will have a tenured professorship by then. I want to spend the rest of my career teaching college students how to think like a scientist. Hopefully I live somewhere near enough that my parents can enjoy being grandparents. At this point it’s all pipe-dreams though.
What is your proudest moment?
It’s not a single moment. It is definitely seeing my boxers grow up. They join the team, eager and scared, they want to see if they have what it takes to get in the ring. They want to test themselves in the most extreme way they can. Over the years, they gain confidence from our training and conditioning.
The first time they fight they are so scared! It is amazing to watch them face their fears. After their first bout, they are changed forever. They carry a confidence that they conquered a big, scary monster. Then they get a few more bouts, and realize it’s not really that scary. By the time they graduate, they are confident and perseverant, and they know they can handle anything life throws at them. It’s great to be a part of that.
