NSU Horizons Fall 2017

39 NSU HORIZONS I for two weeks. I never took neurophysiology, so it was a challenge. I learned the material a week ahead of the students,” she said with self-deprecating humor. When a permanent position opened, she was hired. “They hired me after they saw me teach,” she said. “I en- joyed research, but I really wanted to be teaching.” Years later, the College of Medical Sciences opened in the Terry Building on NSU’s Fort Lauderdale/Davie Campus. The college started the Master of Biomedical Sciences program, which serves as a bridge for students seeking admittance to the medical or dental colleges. Students in the master’s degree program take Dribin’s first-year courses alongside students in the medical and dental colleges. Humor is a trademark in her classroom. Rodriguez recalls the day loud music suddenly began playing on his computer during one of Dribin’s lectures. “I couldn’t get it to stop play- ing for about 20 seconds,” he said. “She stopped lecturing, crossed her arms, stared me down and criticized my music choice in front of all the students in the auditorium. I was worried she would be upset at me. On the contrary, she em- braced a good laugh. Her humor is second to none at NSU.” Dribin compares teaching a class to giving a performance. “When you lecture, it has to be rehearsed in the sense that you have to know the material,” she said. “I’ve always tried to use comedy, because I always enjoyed the teacher who was funny. Have you sat in a class where someone is droning on, and it’s not accomplishing anything?” Her class handouts sometimes include cartoon-style drawings or funny pictures from the Internet to illustrate learning points. “I try to keep it fun—to keep them alive,” she quipped. WHY HUMOR MATTERS Dribin grew up in Miami Beach in a four-flat building near Flamingo Park. Her father died when she was a baby. She and her brothers lived with their mother and grandpar- ents, who were Polish immigrants. “We always used humor in my family,” she said. “Tasteless humor” was never far from the table. “We had that personal- ity. We had to joke about everything.” Dribin’s uncle, who lived upstairs from the family, had been a child-prodigy pianist in Warsaw. He sparked her interest in music. She learned to play the flute in third grade. In high school, she played in the marching band. She took up the bassoon “for fun.” Lori Dribin inspects the research of student Glenda Zamora, who will graduate during 2018 from the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine. Lori Dribin, left, plays bassoon for the Broward Symphonic Orchestra, along with Roberta Hinkes, a pharmacist; and Jonathan Gusmano, the admissions counselor for the Master of Biomedical Sciences program that Dribin teaches at NSU. continued on next page