Times Are Hard. What’s a Teacher to Do?

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.

Opinion

Supported by

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

letters

Times Are Hard. What’s a Teacher to Do?

April 19, 2026,

9:00 a.m. ET

Share full article

See more of our coverage in your search results.

Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda.

Add The New York Times on Google

Agrega The New York Times en Google

More from our inbox:

An Arch Near Arlington

Don’t Cut Mental Health Programs. Lives Are at Stake.

Transformed in Prison

Image

Credit...

Ben Wiseman

To the Editor:

Re “

Being a College Teacher Is Strange Right Now

,” by Frank Bruni (Opinion, April 8):

I sympathize with Mr. Bruni’s challenges as a college teacher today, as well as the challenges facing his students. I hope Mr. Bruni doesn’t forget to remind students that for most of the last couple of centuries, a liberal arts education was looked upon not as job training but rather as a chance to explore the legacy provided by the generations of scientists, artists and scholars who preceded them.

The world of the future may not need many coders, but there will always be both need and room for poets, artists, historians and philosophers.

Francis Schrag

Madison, Wis.

To the Editor:

As I read Frank Bruni’s piece and thought about the medical students I teach, I could feel myself nodding in agreement.

Medical students, even in their first year, feel the deep uncertainty of our current moment: staggering levels of burnout, corporatization of health care, funding cuts and the rise of A.I., all in the setting of political and social unpredictability and climate change.

When faced with a challenging patient scenario, I often encourage my students to “name the problem.” So, I’d like to name this problem for myself and my students: It is difficult to be the best mentor I can be, because I worry that right now, I cannot envision your futures after four years of rigorous work and enormous financial cost. But I will work to foster your curiosity, empathy and flexibility, all of which have served me well in my career as a doctor and as a human, and which I know will undoubtedly help your future patients.

Bevin Kenney

Boston

The writer is an internist and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and

log into

your Times account, or

subscribe

for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?

Log in

.

Want all of The Times?

Subscribe

.

Related Content

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT