Dear Professor Bassell,
I must confess, I considered myself very fortunate to be one of your students, your classes was the best thing that happened to me during my Graduate years, at Brooklyn College, 2009-2011.
You were there from the beginning. I remembered, I had registered for your class and it may have been a couple of weeks or a month before class started, I want to buy my text book early (off season), so I emailed you and you responded immediately, I was impressed! In addition, you went beyond and recommended readings that ended up intertwined with my graduate classes that I took there after, this helped me to have a deeper understanding of my text. Even after all these years I still keep recommending the book you once recommended to me “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing”.
Coach, your teaching style is very unique, it’s the only class I use to look forward to go after long hours of working. In your class the discussions were current, engaging and they were lots of “wow” and “I didn’t know that” moments. I couldn’t survive completing my final research class, if I didn’t have a strong foundation of the marketing research, especially creating an unbiased questionnaire. You made sure all the introverts like me asked questions and we came out of our shell with out realizing it. You were always well prepared and organized and thorough with your answer. Furthermore you are the only Professor that would send reminders for papers and class discussion not forgetting the pound of encouragement at the end of each email “ You can do it! Yes you can!” It does add up, it keeps me growing each day. I don’t know how you do it?
You were always there early in class with a big smile that reflects your zeal of making a difference in your student lives. Even after class lots of students would surrounded you with addition questions and you would give your time wholeheartedly, even on Graduation day.
You are the most selfless Professor, teacher, motivator and the ideal Coach I ever know. Yesterday, I was listening to a podcast and I said to my self, Dale Carnegie would have been proud of you. Our class was diverse and many students were intimidated due to English being a second language, Coach some how, you found a way to make us feel comfortable, by letting us share the different problems a market would face internationally or in our country. It made us felt we were a part of whole, and always referring to our class as a team. The first or second email before class started, you sent us an email, I quote “working together we can achieve great success”. Whenever my friends from your class communicate, you always seems to be the main focus of our conversation, “we had the best professor…”, you were always email away.
Several times I may be at the cross road and would contemplate whether I should take your words, or give up but your words would haunt me “You can do it Gasminee! Yes you can”, at times I would want to pretend I didn’t remember those words as I go on in life, but you have planted a seed in your students that keep us from giving up.
Coach, I want to thank you very much for your support, encouragement and your priceless advise through out the years and for believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.
Gasminee