Michigan State University is fortunate to have passionate educators who are committed to enhancing the experience of their students and who help to provide the best education possible.
The Graduate School is featuring some of these educators – graduate and postdoc educators – every month to share their unique stories and perspectives on what it means to be a dedicated educator, how they’ve overcome educational challenges, and the ways they have grown through their experiences.
For March 2026, we are featuring Joey Wijffels, who is a doctoral candidate in Kinesiology. In his writeup, Joey talks about the teaching challenges he has navigated and offers some advice to other graduate educators.
What does it mean to be an educator at a university?
I think the big thing is that an educator at a university is also deeply engaged in research and scholarship.
They work on studying their craft, learning the newest in the field, and contributing to that field. That trickles down to students because they’re exposed to the energy of someone trying to bring fresh perspectives to old knowledge.
But it also works the other way: teaching inspires the educator to investigate more, stay curious, and be motivated by student questions and learning.
What challenges you have experienced and how have you grown from these?
During my first semester at MSU, I also taught my first classes. It was scary and took a lot more class prep at the start.
It took a while for me to get the confidence and repertoire of teaching material to be creative on the spot and deliver it in a relaxed way.
I have to comment on the students here: They are very forgiving when a new educator stumbles a bit, and that helped me take risks, improve faster, and enjoy teaching.
What value do you see in Teaching Professional Development?
It helps to put the challenges you face in front of your peers and hear how they handle similar situations.
That feedback loop saves time and helps you grow more intentionally.
What is one piece of advice you would give other graduate educators?
Try to take as much flexibility and freedom from your instructor of record as you can to try your own creative new strategies for delivering material and engaging the class.
Make the topic of your teaching your own thing and it will feel even more rewarding to see the students learn.
What do you enjoy in your free time?
Given that I’m in grad school, free time can feel like a bit of a foreign concept.
I’m working toward a life where my work feels like something I’d choose even in my free time. But I love travel, motorcycles, the gym, and yoga.
What non-academic book are you currently reading/ or is a favorite?
There is this book by James Nestor called “Breath.” Breathwork is a big part of the yoga I teach, and this is an accessible book for learning about breathing for wellbeing.