Time to commit some retirement

While in the midst of hitting the snooze button on my phone a few Mondays ago, I briefly scanned Twitter before getting another 10 minutes of shut eye.

It was there that I saw Duncan McMonagle was retiring from teaching.

I wasn't going to get that extra 10 minutes anymore.

Duncan has been my journalism instructor for the past year and a half at Red River College and I'm thankful that he didn't retire a year earlier.

I didn't have Duncan as my journalism instructor in my first semester at the program but you could feel his presence in CreComm. I remember being a little nervous in my first few classes of second semester with Duncan as my instructor. Knowing I wanted to major in journalism, I felt the need to make a good impression.

Our first assignment that semester was a streeter. A few days later, I emailed my other journalism instructor, Joanne Kelly, for a job reference. Absolutely, she said, and ask Duncan for one too. He really liked your streeter.

Exhale.

There has been plenty he's taught me as a journalism major since I first walked into his classroom last January, and I know in speaking with my classmates, they feel the same way. It's amazing how much I have learned from him in what feels like a very short amount of time.

When I peer over my own stories by myself, I will often ask myself, "What would Duncan tell me right now?"

In addition to all the things he has taught me about journalism, I'll remember many other things. The Monday morning greeting of "It's nine o'clock in the big city..." and the phrase "it's time to commit some journalism". The bullshit detector. Oh, and the in-class standoffs when he asks a question and doesn't get a response. He'll stand at the front of the room silently, waiting for someone to speak up. We've never won one of those standoffs. 

And of course, the two words I'll have stapled to every desk or cubicle I find myself working: "Says who?"

He always had time for you as a student. There were a few times when I was unsure of what step to take next with school assignments or in my career. After having conversations with Duncan, I always felt much better about the direction I was heading.

In his blog post where he announced his retirement, Duncan told a story about a former colleague who wasn't fond of having to deal with students.

"I resolved never to be that person," he said.

In the time you were my teacher, you were never that person. Judging by the well wishes you've received on social media from past students you taught, you never were.

Enjoy retirement, Duncan. I'm sure the view inside Rogers Centre will be nice.