Lars Hoffman.
Even the name makes me smile.
Lars is the reason why I sought my last academic degree….and for that reason….I credit him…and sometimes curse his memory….because rolling up all that debt meant I had no choice but to become a CEO to pay it all back.
Dr. Lars Hoffman was a political science professor at Lewis and Clark Community College when I was a student there during the fall of 1976. I loved him in class because he was so topical and very approachable. It was only after I became a faculty member at LCCC myself, in 1986, did I really get to know him.
Lars was really Larry Hoffman, an Iowa farmboy who went to Grinnell College and later changed his name to Lars during the counter culture late 1960s. He became Lars. And after earning his doctorate, he came to LCCC to spend the rest of his career.
There are two things that Lars did that changed the way I approached my career.
First, I remember vividly when a student would refer to him as “Doctor Hoffman.” He would smile, look them in the eyes, and say simply. “Please….call me Lars.”
I thought that was so cool. I so admired the work it must have taken to get a doctorate from the University of Iowa….and then to throw it away….to let a student know….in his eyes….he was nothing special.
But the biggest impression Lars made on me came when I asked him whether or not I should seek a doctorate. I was still a young and impressionable instructor with an attitude and a little bit of ambition. I sought his advice and counsel…and this is what he said to me:
“Mike…You are a bright shining star….there is nothing that can stop you from moving up in this organization. In fact, I was just telling someone the other day…..Mike Dreith will someday be president of this college.”
Wow. That absolutely blew me away. I enrolled the next week in my coursework to earn my doctorate in a large part because of Lars.
But that conversation was vintage Lars. I’m sure he meant it….but he was always the nicest guy in the room.
Two years later I was struggling with advanced statistics and sleeping two hours a night in order to complete the course and move on to my dissertation. I was miserable…..hating the idea of losing all aspects of my life in order to pursue that damned degree. But I knew Lars would have a piece of advice that would help get me over the hump. So I went to his office.
There he was….out in the hallway…..talking to one of our young custodians with his back to me. Typical Lars….He didn’t discriminate on campus. He was everybody’s friend.
As I walked up behind him….I caught the tail end of his conversation with the janitor….who…..for this blog….we will refer to as “Bud Smith.”
“Bud…You are a bright shining star….there is nothing that can stop you from moving up in this organization. In fact, I was just telling someone the other day…..Bud Smith will someday be president of this college.”
Gasp.
I walked on by.
I realized I was $80,000 in debt….not because I was a “bright shining star”…..but because Lars was too nice to tell me I didn’t have a chance in Hell of ever being anything more than a speech teacher.
About three years after that encounter I became a college president elsewhere after surviving stats and Lars’ bull.
He died a few years later and left a pretty impressive career that included being elected as the first mayor of the Village of Godfrey, Illinois.
I’ll never forget the message I sent him when he won the election…..
“You, Lars, are a bright shining star……and there is nothing that can stop you now from ultimately becoming the Governor of this great state.”
God Bless You Lars.
I know exactly what you told St. Peter at the Golden Gate….
“You are a bright shining star……………………………”
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