This is an I-Heart podcast.

Guaranteed human.

And we continue here on our American stories.

And up next we bring you a story from one of our listeners from the Twin Cities.

And that's Minneapolis, St. Paul.

You've already heard Paul Kotz on this show.

And he's back with more stories from his new book, Profiles in Kindness.

Paul is a professor at St. Mary's University of Minnesota. Today, he'll talk about the importance of importance and how the why

of what we do matter. Here's Paul. Many of us know what we do and how we do it very well. But when asked why we do it, we often pause and see that this is a question we might need to explore further. We've heard of people like Simon Sinek, Mike Vack, and Maya Angelou, three current individuals who bring these ideas to our attention,

they make the case that it isn't just about the money so much as loving what you do and how you make people feel.

Well, I admit that I love what I do.

And recently I had a student who was so adamant that their grade should be changed on a critique assignment.

The person is an intelligent, hard worker with drive and determination.

At the moment, I did not love what I do.

What confounded me was that they actually had a 92% on the assignment and were irritated that I docked them for not fully synthesizing two articles to a coherent conclusion.

That was not in the rubric, I was told in an email. My credibility was being questioned,

and for a fleeting moment I went back to the notion of pursuing a career in carpentry,

which I also enjoy. But my why brought me back to the discussion with a revitalized impetus.

Explicitly, they were right.

I was trying to make this talented individual even better,

knowing integrating ideas and interweaving them together is vital to this degree and to life.

I was also cognizant that I, too, have my limitations as a professor and a grader.

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