It was an epiphany when I read about the idea that college students pay their professors to pay attention to their work.
Stated this way, it is blindingly true.
I am extremely grateful for those professors who not only paid attention to my work, but actually cared about me as a person. It might be an implicit part of the job description, but one should never take for granted someone’s emotional investment beyond the cold hard financial transaction.
You can’t buy that. Thank you all!