Animated People: Erik Timmerman

One day, I was in my apartment doing my daily reading before classes when Erik called me on the phone. Turns out, he needed someone to go to the library, check out a couple of films, and cue them up to specific scenes so that he could show them in a class he was teaching that afternoon. He couldn't find his student assistant and was being called into a meeting, therefore he couldn't do it himself before his class started.

I told him "I'd handle it" then jumped into my car and hightailed it over to the campus library.

About an hour later, I delivered the tapes to his office just in time for his class and went on my way.

I don't know how many other students he called before he contacted me, but as I walked away from his office, it just felt good to know that he did--that he knew that if he asked me to do the job, it would get done, correctly and on time. I can't think of a greater compliment than that, in that one particular instant, he trusted me not to let him down.


Photograph from Andrew Davidhazy's Retired Professors and past colleagues from the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences at RIT webpage.