Druann Bauer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Ohio Northern. Bauer has taught a variety of subjects. Before she became a professor, she held a variety of jobs, ranging from journalist to editor. She received her Bachelor’s from Northeast Louisiana, her Master’s from Southeastern Louisiana and her Ph.D. from the University of Louisiana of Lafayette.
Bauer became a professor at Ohio Northern in 2005, only 13 years ago. Her office is still packed full of books, some, she remarked, still had to be sorted to see which ones she was taking and which ones she was giving away. There are boxes in her office, and you can tell some books have already left the shelves.
When asked about her fondest memories, Bauer paused. Her answer? “I think the time with the students outside of the classroom are some of my fondest memories.” A lot of her answers seem to center around students. She describes that going on field trips with the students, like the time she and her students went to the zoo. They traveled to the Columbus Zoo to take photographs of polar bears, but once they got there, all the polar bears were covered with mud. Bauer recalled the memory with a laugh. The day was not lost, they all went to dinner afterwards and had a good time.
She also said she has taken students to the opera before and has had knitting classes before. The times she gets to spend more one on one than in a large classroom are her favorite memories.
Her favorite class to teach during her time here was News Writing. “I got to know the reporters really well and most of them I worked with them from freshman all the way through their senior year. So, that was my introduction to them senior year, and we became like a little family.”
Bauer impacted many students during her time. Khadijah Bagais was one of her students and helped her run a summer camp for Videography as a part of the Summer Academic and Honors Institute (SAHI) camp. Richard Deubler also made a short speech during English Honors Day, reciting her influence on him and how she has supported him.
While her time at ONU may be coming to an end, Dr. Bauer still has many plans for the future. She and her husband bought a 45-foot RV that is towed by a truck. “We are going to go out across the country, and we are going to find service groups that we can work with to do like disaster relief or Habitat groups or things we can do where we feel like we can give some service back to the country. Also, just to have a chance to have a cup of coffee without looking at the clock.”
Bauer said there were several things that inspired her to retire. She had a brother, who was only a year older than her, that died three years ago and made her realize how short life is. “It all started years ago. I started a class called ‘The Bucket List,’ and I had the students read literature that was about living your life to the fullest and I realized that so many people wait to retire and when they do retire, they are too sick or too old to do half of what they want to do.” Bauer says that since that class, about eight to 10 year ago, she and her husband were inspired to live like tomorrow was their last day. “So we never delayed enjoying life,” and they do not want any regrets.
When asked what she was going to miss about ONU, Bauer didn’t hesitate to answer. “The students,” she said. “I love the students here. They are family. They always challenge me; they make me work really hard, they make me think. They make me appreciate the younger generation. I think I am able to understand them a lot better than a lot people my age simply because I work with them and I know how they think, I know they’re not much different than we are.” Druann says that every generation has something to offer and the students keep her young. “It’s a true joy to come into the classroom. I love teaching, and I love my students. I will miss them terribly.”