From Pastor to Professor Overnight: Meet Buster Swoopes
Buster Swoopes
(Edited by Jalen Wells)
Pastor Buster Swoopes, a Southwestern Adventist University graduate from 2006, is now creating a new stepping-stone for students today as a religion professor at SWAU. When submitting his resume, he claimed to have done so “on a whim”; in other words, without seriousness. It wasn’t until he got a call for an interview that he realized this was God calling.
Classes started more than a month ago and Swoopes remains thrilled to be a part of it. “It’s really busy,” he says. “Even more busy than when I was a pastor, but it’s about the students—not me.”
Swoopes started a “question box” in his classroom where students can drop anonymous questions or notes in an effort to make students more comfortable in reaching out. It makes him happy to receive feedback.
Becoming a professor overnight isn’t always thrilling. “I thought it would be more difficult coming up with content and classroom materials, but that’s been the easiest part,” he says. However, he was quite surprised to find that grading midterm exams took five and a half hours. Swoopes adds, “There is a lot of learning going on in a classroom, for both the student and the professor, but it’s great to see a classroom learning together. As a student body, we should keep in mind the great efforts our professors make to teach us.”
About author
You might also like
No Turning Back
Lizeth Jimenez, a junior psychology and education major from Garland, Texas, was unsure about college after high school. But ever since she made the decision to accept God’s call, she
88.3 The Journey Attracts More Listeners than Ever Before
Mike Agee has a history of building successful radio stations. Now as general manager of 88.3 The Journey, a new challenge is before him. The Journey is in the Dallas-Ft
Stepping Up to the Task
New VP for Finance Joel Wallace doesn’t think he’s that special. On the other hand, the students and people he works with are “fantastic.”
0 Comments
No Comments Yet!
You can be first to comment this post!