Professors Should Wear Cowbells

In my prior life, I attended graduate school for Classics at Tufts and spent summers as an archaeologist at the Agora in Athens, Greece. It never failed that you would be digging one hot Athenian day, talking with your trench-mate about your shenanigans the night before, and up would walk the dig director. The end of that summer, we presented our director with a cowbell to wear while walking around the site to give adequate warning upon approach.

Flash forward to a few weeks ago. We had just picked up our cases with feedback on our first strategy case with Professor Mazzeo. I quickly read through my feedback and was impressed at the detailed, thoughtful comments (after all, there are nearly 60 of us, translating into approximately 180 pages of reading for the professor). I passed my friend Michael in the hall who asked if I had picked up my case.  My response?  “Yes!  And it looks like he actually read it!” From behind me I hear a very familiar voice say, “You think?”  Yes, open mouth, input high heel. It was none other than Professor Mazzeo.  I, of course, tried to backtrack quickly (unsuccessfully)…and followed up with an email that night.  One of the things that I love about Kellogg is that the professors are so accessible, approachable, and have a great sense of humor.

The next class, I left Professor Mazzeo a little token. A personalized purple cowbell.