Somewhere towards the middle of my interview with Professor John Sirmans, Assistant Professor with the department of English and Rhetoric at our very own Georgia College and State University, I asked if he had an animal or object with which he would choose to identify with. After a moment of thought, he made his decision—the loon. “The loon has the most melodious note, but it also has the goofiest name.” Anyone who has sat in a class with Sirmans would be able to understand this connection as his voice is soft-spoken, but his words are frequently filled with mirth.
I remember one particularly blustery day; he came in before class and roused our dreary rainy day spirits with a few bars of Oklahoma’s “Oh What a Beautiful Morning”. In another class, to illustrate the point of differing perception, he quickly sketched a very accurate drawing of an elephant on the board, and told the story of the blind men each feeling a different piece of the elephant and accepting it as truth. It’s that kind of originality that he adds to his classes that makes them stand out in the minds of his students.
Although English has been his forte since birth, through the years Sirmans, who is an alumni of Georgia College, has worn many hats, including working in an architectural woodworking firm. “But I always missed the atmosphere of academia” so he returned to school to complete a degree so he could become a professor. When preparing for class, he says that what is always at the forefront of his mind is the delicate balance between the university requirements and with his personal goals each day. “This is one of those things that goes through my mind all the time, and I’m sure all professors’ … I have to set goals on a daily basis of what is it that I want these people to take from today’s class.”
Between busily preparing for classes, he also serves as an advisor for Georgia College’s chapter of the Sigma Tau Delta literary honors society. Apart from that, some may have met him offering lemonade and a smile on those early days of the semester. When asked for any advice he had for incoming freshman, Sirmans’ initial response was no. He went on to explain: “There’s a quote from who knows where, ‘a good sailor is not made on a smooth sea’ so the more bumps you have in your beginning semester the more you’re going to learn and the better sailor you’re going to be throughout your college career.”
We concluded the interview with a comment on how everyone I’d talked to in his classes raved about what a great teacher he was. His humble reply? He must grade too easily. As for this contributor, I’m not wholly convinced that those “Most Interesting Man in the World” commercials weren’t partially inspired by Professor Sirmans. Walking into one of his classes is the equivalent of stepping out into the sun after a long day of standardized testing; the cold of the past few hours melts away and you immediately find yourself cracking a smile.