The summer is rapidly approaching, and with it, La Crosse residents can finally start looking forward to a reoccurring sun, cozy rainy days, and freedom from classes until the end of August. While there are many things to look forward to, the end of spring can bring a tear to the eyes of many as the graduating seniors don their cap and gowns, saying their final “goodbyes” to the campus. However, the end of a semester also finds us saying goodbye to many retiring professors, including math professor Ben Smith.
The Lemon reached out to every retiring staff member for an interview, but all of them had unfortunately already given their words to the Lumen. All except the venerable professor Smith who had not even been asked. According to the Lumen, they considered interviewing him but ultimately decided against it, stating, “He’s such a boring guy.” Saddened by this description, the Lemon vowed to prove them wrong, reaching out to Smith who responded with an ecstatic, “k (sic).”
Smith will be leaving Viterbo after teaching math for 30 years. According to Smith, he decided to retire, “just because.” When asked if he had any hobbies that he was excited to dedicate his new free time to, he replied, “Eh, not really.” When asked if there was really not a single thing he was excited to do, he thought for a couple minutes in silence until replying, “Nope.”
Smith lives by himself in a studio apartment in downtown La Crosse where, when not at work, he will do “I don’t know, not much.” A dedicated and passionate professor, Smith spends most of his free time preparing lesson plans for his math classes. “It’s my job,” Smith elegantly stated. On the weekends, Smith recounted that he will sometimes call his mom Deb, who he described as “pretty nice.” The Lemon asked Smith to share a photograph of her. Unfortunately, after searching through the photos on his Blackberry phone for about five minutes, Smith told us, “Hm... don’t have any.”
For 30 years, Smith has taken his job very seriously, making strong connections with his students. When asked what he will miss most about the job, Smith seemingly was caught at a loss of words, stating, “I don’t know.” When asked if he could at least share one thing that he would miss, he responded, “Hm… teaching math I guess.” As stated earlier, Smith is a man whose passion for math exceeds all else.
With a complete lack of quotes to use in our article and a minimum word requirement we had to meet, we put Smith through a lightning round of questions to learn as much as possible. We asked him for his favorite color, band, food, and vacation spot, each of which he responded to with some variation of “I don’t know.” If Smith is anything, it is consistent.
Viterbo will certainly miss the charm, uniqueness, and consistency of professor Smith. So long, Ben. The Lemon hopes you enjoy the rest of your life doing what you love: “I don’t know, not much.”
