Professor Dapra has always enjoyed teaching. In his past experience as an executive and manager, he worked to help people develop ideas. Teaching was a natural fit for him
His decision to come to Plymouth State in the Fall of 2017 was based on the cluster concept idea, providing students the opportunity to work in a cross functional team alongside business. To him that is the recipe for success in a career.
In his first year of advising, he was impressed not only with the questions his advisees had, but also how quickly they developed a relationship. He mentioned nearly every person he spoke with overstayed their time and had a great time talking about their career goals and aspirations.
Professor Dapra believes that the challenges of being a college professor was simply being on top of the newest info and finding ways to engage his students. He finds it most rewarding when the light bulb goes off and he can see that the students really understand what is being taught.
His goal as a professor is to help students develop confidence in their ability to make effective decisions. At the end of his course, he wants his students to be able to look at a situation, and determine the best way to approach it. Strategic thinking is an essential skill that all students should learn. “Things move quickly. You need to be agile and get up every day with a work plan as well as being aware of radical change and be ready to innovate.”