I teach at Boston University, where I co-direct the Graduate Program in Science and Medical Journalism. My focus is narrative non-fiction, the use of fiction writing techniques to tell true stories that people will actually want to read, watch and/or listen to, be in it print, web, or documentary form. My students are mostly young scientists, doctors, engineers and others who for whatever reason have decided to reorient in the direction of the writing life. Each of them brings something surprising to the mix. For example, last summer one of my students did a summer internship in Tanzania, where she worked in a remote and poorly equipped bush hospital and wrote essays about her experiences. One of these pieces involved a fisherman whose leg was almost severed by a hippopotamus. I had no idea that hippos were such fiercely dangerous creatures, but, as it turned out, the hippo bite was probably the least of the fisherman’s worries. Tanzania turned out to be a very unforgiving place, and my student—a medical doctor training as a surgeon, returned to Boston with startling insights into the disappointingly minor role medical knowledge plays in that particular corner of the developing world.Teaching is a joy and a privilege that I try never to take for granted. My hope is that the experience of our time together convinces students of their power as communicators, and that they will go on to use that power to entertain and educate, of course, but also to nudge the public conversation in the direction of constructive change.