To get to Penn in any capacity requires extraordinary talent. Our staff, students and faculty are each very special individuals. It is neither self-effacing nor overly modest for me to realize that any time I walk into a room here there is a chance that everyone else in the room will be smarter than me. That includes the classroom. I am more experienced than they and have had far more training, but there is no scale on which the persons in my classroom are not deserving of my respect and admiration.
Personhood is a two-way street.
He asked me to introduce myself. Introducing yourself involves risk. But the risk goes beyond privacy. Creating relationships within a large group of people increases your vulnerability. Continuing to invest yourself, making class personal, carries as much risk as investing yourself in any relationship.