Rolf Samuels started his teaching career in 1984 teaching freshman composition at Iowa State University. In the years that followed his first teaching job, he taught at several colleges and universities in various positions, including teaching English literature and writing as a graduate assistant, temporary instructor, adjunct, visiting professor, and finally a full-time professor. He has been teaching for 32 years and has spent his last 22 years at Viterbo after starting in 1999 as a one-year hire. Just a few years were added after that first year.
When asked why he chose the career path of teaching, he said it was due to his passion and aptitude for language. He has siblings in his life who have taken on this field of work as well. But the classroom gave Samuels the permission to be exuberant and gave him a sense of usefulness. The profession of teaching was a way for him to engage his mind in a way that would challenge his beliefs.
Samuels has had connections with Viterbo before he committed 22 years of teaching at this university. He had two friends from graduate school who were professors at Viterbo, which played an important role in him finding the opening at Viterbo. The move to La Crosse was not a significant move for him as he was a Madison resident at the time and has been to La Crosse on numerous occasions. Samuels was not going to turn away the opportunity to teach, even if it was a one-year position, due to how hard it was to find a job in this field back then.
Although Samuels is leaving the teaching life, he will still miss the class discussions that went to a smarter place than he would expect. He explains that these experiences were delightful and rare and held as a constant reminder that collective discussion yields great discoveries and endorses collaboration. Even at the end of his teaching career, he leaves with a lesson to his students.
After retirement, he looks to finally be able to sit and enjoy new books with no worry of how he could teach them. He also looks to improve his bread baking skills and cooking skills. Samuels has quite a list of things that he plans to do around the house including painting a trim board above the porch, patching the plaster on the dining room ceiling, and razing and rebuilding garden beds. Something else he has added to his list is becoming the commissioner of his fantasy baseball league. He plans on traveling with his wife Kelly to places they have not been and see the family they haven’t seen in a while. Once the pandemic has receded, they may even fly more places as well. Samuels admits can finally relax without worrying about what will come on Monday morning.
