Mrs. Troglin,

Many people might not know this by title, but all of your students have experienced at some point "the Fear of Troglin." I was not sure if anyone else was going to mention the "Fear," thus, I felt the need to tell you how it still rings in my mind every time I stand up before anybody to speak.

Mrs. Troglin, you have been the greatest blessing in my life in more areas than just speech and composition. You have imparted into me the desire to be a life-long learner, I could never thank you enough.

In this new stage of your life, I pray that the Lord blesses in every pursuit into which He calls you.

With Love,

Jesse Hohenthaner

Mrs. Pat,

I remember my first graduation experience at Family of Faith and talking to you a few minutes before the ceremony started. I asked you if you were ready to speak and you replied, “I’m not sure! I just received the words from presbytery that I am to read!” (Don’t quote me on the exact words!) However, we laughed together and parted for the ceremony to begin. I remember watching you as you read several students’ prophecies that they received from presbytery. You maybe glanced down only once, very quickly! From that moment, I thought to myself that it was impossible to memorize so many papers so quickly and easily or you were just really amazing! That is what you are—an excellent woman of God.

In the few years of knowing you and sitting in your classes, you have demonstrated that we, as students of God, can do all things once we allow Him to strengthen us. For that I thank you. You have not only improved my abilities as a student of academics, but also as a student of the Word.

In short, Mrs. Pat, your life and your impartation of both the Word and English (Oh, you know how I love English…) have left an impression on me that has changed my heart and my life. Thank you! As I continue to write my many papers, I will always remember to never start a paragraph with “There is/There are!” Most importantly, however, I will remember to thank God for placing someone like you in my life—A woman of excellence; a teacher that cares; a friend that loves.

Thank you again, and may God continue to bless you as you have blessed me!

In His love,

Julius J. Jeffers

Dear Mrs. Pat,

I count myself so blessed to know you and to have been in your classes. I apply something you have taught me everyday of my life. You may think I am exaggerating, but I am very sincere in stating this! The lessons that you have taught me range from not twisting the rings on my fingers when I am speaking to a crowd to properly using “affect” and “effect” in a sentence!

Not only did you teach me grammar, composition, and speech, but you also taught me how to be a woman of God. Through your example of integrity, commitment and devotion, I have learned how to present my life in service to honoring God. You displayed these qualities in everything that you did and said. For example, you would always begin class with an encouraging Word from your personal devotion time, and you would take the time to pray with the class when we had a need. You shared your life with us. I greatly appreciate that. You also volunteered to oversee a summer class for me, when I know that you had a busy summer schedule! The time that went into grading, countless e-mails explaining the material, and a long distance phone bill demonstrated your commitment to your students!

Through the time that I spent in your class or in your office, I have been inspired to be a more thoughtful, dedicated, and compassionate teacher. I can remember sitting in your class and listening to your constructive criticism that you would always begin by saying, “You people….”, and wondering how a person could speak so strongly but gracefully at the same time! These speeches that began with “You people…”, that pinpointed every mistake that we had made in our assignments, always ended with an encouraging word. These speeches produced a life change in me! Thank you!

Mrs. Pat, I thank you and commend you for everything that you have imparted into my life. I cannot stress enough what a blessing you have been, nor can I stress enough how your example has driven me to becoming a more conscientious woman of God and teacher.

May the Lord God richly bless you and let His face shine upon you,

Johnnie Muse

Mrs. Troglin,

There are so many things that I can remember being in your classes, but there are a few things that I will always be in my mind:

•  Because of your speech class, when I hear speeches I know that they haven't had you as a professor. There are just too many "huuuuuu's"; I'm not saying that I'm perfect at it, but it annoys me when I hear it.
•  Because of your speech class, I told our children's pastor that if he slid his pages sideways and didn't write on both sides of them, he wouldn't be as lost in his sermon.
• Because of your English classes, I have learned that we are not corn; therefore we are not raised, but we are reared.
•  Because of all your classes, I know that "the Bible doesn't say," but "the Bible states."
• Because of you, I know that tough times might come my way, but with the strength of God I can overcome them.

I will always remember your classes, but even more importantly, I will always remember you for who you are.

So many times, Worthy and I talk about you and the time we spent in your classes. So many memories . . . Worthy, of course, agrees with me, but he is also so thankful. Because of your classes, he went ahead and passed a certification in teaching English as a foreign language. He can further instruct people what you have taught him.

Thank you for all that you have given for us. Thank you for being such a good teacher and showing us your expectations in all your classes. You showed us what dedication meant.

Thank you for everything. We're looking forward to seeing you again,

We love you,

Yaële and Worthy Williams

(Ezekiel says, "thank you," too, because his parents speak better English now!)

Pat Troglin,

Many teachers have impacted me greatly, and for that I am thankful. You hold a special place in my heart because you loved me (and my classmates) enough to show us what a truly great teacher and great person look like. You dared to smack (verbally, though you may have wanted to do otherwise) a prideful college kid in the most loving ways imaginable. You genuinely cared not just that we would learn materials or be good teachers, but you wanted us to be like Jesus in everything. You expected excellence and made us want to pursue excellence for ourselves. It wasn’t a burden to be the best we could be; it was liberating.

I admire you—your courage, determination, steadfastness, love, and care—and the way you let Jesus shine so brilliantly through you.

Jason Stasyszen

Dear Pat,

When I heard of your retirement, I was happy for you, but sad for any would-have-been students. They will now say “off-ten” instead of “offen”, “towards” instead of “toward”, and not pronounce H’s at all. But, seriously, they will miss great opportunities such as a chance to demonstrate their knowledge, appreciate quality writing, and compose speeches under a teacher who genuinely cares.

I want you to know how much I knew you cared. Your encouraging words have never left my mind. Your pleadings for me to switch to an English major also never left—one of my endorsements I am finishing is a Secondary Language Arts endorsement. I am sure that you will continue to be a blessing and an encourager to those around you.

All the best,

Rachel Buchman

Influence

There are many things about Mrs. Troglin that have impacted my life, from her smile to the Troglin stare that I received if my homework assignment was not up to the standards she held for me. However, the most influential, life-changing event in my life was what I know she helped to produce within me—an attitude that produced self-confidence and an unwavering faith in what God had/has in store for my life.

Mrs. Troglin, thank you for being the inspiration I needed throughout the four years of college at FFC and the encouragement I need now. I know that you will never truly know how much you impacted my life, but I hope that you now know the influence you had on me as an impressionable, sometimes gullible, girl.

Thank you,

Amy Shaw

Mrs. Troglin,

You are extraordinary woman of God. You are such an inspiration to me. I thank you for all the encouragement you have given me. I am so thankful that God has placed you in my life. You are truly an example of a godly wife and mother. I love you with all my heart. Thank you for all that you do.

Love you,

Lisa Cook

Ms. Pat,

Thank you so much for pouring your gifts and talents into the lives of your students. I would also like to thank you for always demonstrating a commitment to excellence and for imparting that commitment to us.

Two funny things that I remember from your classes are quotes like, "Scott, sorry this does not cut it" and "there are no excuses." ? Thank you so much, Ms. Troglin, for drilling excellence into me!

I still catch myself sometimes correcting myself in mid-sentence, saying, "If Ms. Troglin were here she would have rebuked me." I still live with the "Fear of Troglin." ?

I am so thankful that I had the privilege of being taught by you.

Thanks, Ms. Troglin, for being a woman of God that is full of Grace and Truth, just like Jesus. Thank you for your steadfast commitment to ensure that the laborers that you trained communicate the Gospel with excellence. I believe that the Lord Jesus would truly say to you, "Well done thou good and faithful servant."

I rejoice with you today on being honored Professor Emeritus! You are one that truly deserves to wear that honor.

Ms. Troglin, "May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you, and may the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. So, they shall put My name on the children of Israel and I will bless them." (The Priestly Blessing from Numbers 6:22-27),

Love you, Ms. Pat.

Scott Gillen

Mrs Troglin (Pat),

You have been a great blessing and inspiration to me and my family, and we are happy to honor you. I have watched you over the years require excellence of people and still be gracious toward them. You have had a big impact on Immanuel Fellowship Church and in seeing the changes that have taken place over the last 5 or 6 years. You have helped us as leaders become better leaders, and you have helped our church become a church of excellence. You inspire the young people you have taught to become the best they can be at whatever they are doing.

Pat, I have the utmost respect for you and I thank you for the impact you have had on my life. Remember that retirement from teaching doesn't mean your work is done. It only means that God has something else for you to walk into.

You are a blessing Pat.

James Stay

Mrs. Troglin,

I think I should be writing an essay and not just a few words, simply because there is much to say. Please be assured that it is a pleasure knowing you. You have continuously inspired me to reach for excellence, spiritually and academically. As a principal, I still ponder your wisdom. I often reflect on the high standards you expected from your students when considering how to improve the language skills of the students in our school. Our students have indirectly been touched by your life and your dedication to the Father. Thank you!!

I also marvel at your dependence on the Father and your resilience, especially through some of the valley experiences. You navigated these incidents with dignity and poise that was truly admirable.

I think of you with great fondness. You hold a very special place in my heart. May God enrich your days with His presence. You are indeed a blessing from Him.

Debbie Mohabir

Pat,

I remember the day you came to discuss the possibility of teaching English in Family of Faith College. You knew the vision to train and send laborers into the world, and you were convinced that your destiny was to join the faculty. You were not hindered by the need to obtain a graduate degree. You were not deterred by the ninety-minute drive (one way) to evening courses, or poor night vision. Once, your car broke down. One night you had to drive around the tornadoes to get home. Even through tragic experiences or illness, you missed only one day of teaching, two days of graduate school, and took your comps and oral finals with excellence.

You, my friend, are a remarkable woman. It is no surprise that you are our best-loved teacher. You inspire our students as well as our faculty members because you are committed to fulfilling destiny in spite of any hurdles that might present themselves.

When you announced your retirement, I was not surprised when so many students commented about how sad it would be for future students to attend Family of Faith College without receiving impartation from Mrs. Troglin. Their reaction tells me that "Mrs. Pat" is an icon here. Be assured that God has used you to place a unique impartation into laborers that equips them in fulfilling their destinies in Christ.

I am confident that you will certainly remain as a key intercessor for the college throughout your life. You will always be teaching. You will always be training laborers. You will always be part of this college and integral to the Kingdom. You will always be my friend and co-laborer, and for that I am extremely grateful!

Pat, you will always be "A Light to the Nations," and you will always be greatly loved.

Elaine Phillips

Ms. Troglin,

You are truly an inspiration to so many. Even though I only had one class with you, I have been deeply touched by your gift. From Sunday school classes you taught at IF to your witty comments in class, your grace and eloquence will not be forgotten. I truly wish you the best in your retirement.

Meghan (Monger) Stewart

PS. I am now teaching ESL and I wish I had taken ALL of your classes!!! Once again, be blessed

Mrs. Troglin,

Words cannot express how truly blessed and impacted I have been by simply taking just two of your classes. Your commitment to excellence and the excellence you in turn expected out of me helped shape my character more than I can say. The words "Stop. Start over." have served me well, not only in your speech class, but as a life lesson.

In addition, I now know full well that some of my "northerner slang" is unacceptable, not just in a speech, but in everyday life! Every time I feel the urge to combine the words "going to" into "gunnoo", I think of you and bite my tongue!

Thank you for being such an incredible inspiration and blessing as both a professor and a woman of God, not only to me, but to so many others. I pray you know how invaluable you have been to so many lives and I pray that blessing is returned to you a hundredfold.

Congratulations on your retirement!!

Love,
Angi Buchman

Pat,

You have always been a blessing and a source of inspiration and encouragement to me since I moved from New York to Oklahoma. I know that God has a lot more in store for you, including your subtle humor and laughter, but most importantly, changing many more lives in a Kingdom-oriented way.

Naomi and I have always thanked God for the many people that he brought into our lives, and your name is always mentioned. Our church has been blessed by your prayers and the ministry you did several years ago. We can see the fruits of it, and we would like to invite you again. (Please let me know who your personal assistant is so I can make the arrangements.)

May the blessings of God continue to dwell richly with you in spirit, soul, body, and finance.

Amen!

David and Naomi Walcott
Jonathan and ????

Mrs. Troglin,

You are amazing. You have been such an inspiration to me over the years. I still tell people I come in contact with that "towards" is not a word. "Toward" is the correct usage. You had an amazing way of cutting my speech or grammar to pieces, and yet I still felt encouraged afterwards. Your speech class was one of my favorite classes in college, and the way you handled our crutches we used was impressive, to say the least. I also remember the determination and steadfastness you showed when you were going through much personally, and yet still coming and teaching us professionally. I remember one time (although I am sure it happened quite often) I was making some excuse to you why I didn't have enough time to finish my homework and whatnot. Then I realized that you were taking intercession classes, teaching, and getting treated medically at the same time, and you still found a way to get things done on time. I have always remembered this and think about it frequently. I figure that if you can persevere through all those things, plus having me as a student, then I can get things done too, and I strive to do them as well as you.

I love you so much, and have so much admiration for you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have helped mold me into the man of God I am today.

You are such a blessing in my life, and I know that God has more in store for you as well. Your inheritance will be greater than you know, because of the lives you have changed. As you might have guessed I am waiting until the last minute to write this. I mean, I am still Chris Bernard, and not everything has changed yet. But, I am glad I did. I have noticed that so many have been touched by you, and because of your teaching, people around the world are becoming better speakers and hearing the gospel in a clearer fashion than they would have otherwise. Your inheritance is great, and I can't say enough good things about you. Be blessed and highly favored.

Love,

Chris Bernard

Mrs. Troglin,

Being in your class was always an empowering experience for me. I appreciate that you pushed me to do my best. I appreciate even more that you helped me see that my true potential was always further than I thought. You are an inspiration to me. I appreciate all that you have done for me and that you have given your life to achieving the goals of Christ.

I love you.

Love,

Shala Peeples

Mrs. Troglin,

It was always a joy to come to your class. I think back to English class and Speech class, and I think of all the great times that I had in those classes. I loved how you would reprimand or correct one of us with the most loving smile; at the same time, I felt as tall as the roaming gnome. Hee hee.

Not only were you an inspiration in college as one of my teachers, but you were a great inspiration in how you lived and walked with God. I can't tell you how moved I was when hearing of all the rough and hard things you walked through, all the time showing the love of Christ on your face and in your words. It was such a joy to walk into church every Sunday. You would always greet me with a smile and give me a hug. You have always been someone that I have held high respect and admiration for, and I will always feel that way. I am blessed to see how the Christ flows out of you and into others.

I truly do love you Mrs. Troglin, and I am thankful that God placed me in your path. Thank you for speaking into my life. Thank you for your hard work and service. Thank you for showing me how someone truly walks and lives by the Spirit.

I love you Mrs. Troglin,

Sean Goodnight

Mrs. Troglin,

You amazed me from the start when I first came to your Speech class. It was the only class I had with you, but it was one of my most favorite. I always appreciated how you had us begin the class with a word from the Lord. This made the class always start in the right way, and it created an awesome atmosphere in which to learn. What I remember most about your class was how I felt personally responsible to be respectful and honor not only you as my teacher but my classmates as well. Everything we did was to be done in excellence. What I learned from watching how you operated your class, I have taken with me now as a teacher. Thank you for giving so much to us all. You are a great blessing!

Love always,

Lauren Sadberry

Pat,

I still feel like I am one of your students, even though it has been 10 years now. I can hardly believe it. Time has flown by but there is not a day that goes by, if I have to write something down in a full sentence, that you are not right there with me. Even now as I write this, I am cautious in how I use my words and in what order I use them. You will go with me always!

The funny thing is I never even had you as an English / Grammar professor, but you were my Speech professor. Although through the secondhand learning of others that were in your grammar classes and their passing it on to me, I feel as if I was in your grammar classes. On the one hand I am glad I was not in your class for the fact I do not think I would have gotten a very good grade, but on the other hand I am sad in what I missed out on not being able to sit in on your teaching.

Overall though, I can say it was not the academic lessons that impacted my life the most. It was the life lessons you taught everyday. In the one class I had with you, I always looked forward to what you would teach me that would help mold my life to the glory of God. Sometimes it was the stories you told ,and other times it was you just being there and teaching. No matter what was going on in your life, you were there putting on a good face and persevering. The occasional tear would give you away. Words cannot express what I learned though all of that but I will say my heart and my life were changed forever.

It is sad for me to sort of say goodbye and let you retire. I will no longer have the privilege of telling students that they are about to experience a life-changing class that will carry far beyond the academics and they get to experience it all under the tutelage of our best teacher. Yes, I really have told people that. Derek would not have taken your classes if I had not convinced him of that. He wanted to go the easy way and take them online. But he also has admitted that I was right. Derek would come home challenged and uplifted even when he felt he was the dumbest student in the class. But you brought him out of that mentality, and he saw that he too can do it. And to this day he will still correct my grammar and show me that I really should have taken your classes.

So I will not say goodbye, but rather hope that I will receive a few more life lessons by the hand of a very special lady, whom I believe God put here not just for our academic advantage but for our eternal life lessons, which she so graciously has taught us while we had the privilege of being with her.

I would like to say thank you for being who you are, a vessel, and letting God teach me through you. I love you.

Hugs, 

Maria Haeflinger

Mrs. Troglin,

You are a woman of incredible strength. This is something I will always take away from knowing you. I learned a lot of things from you academically, but the things I remember most are stories of the strength of God in you. I've seen you come face to face with adversity and not waver. I've seen you grieve and not give way to it. I have also seen you with such joy, you had tears in your eyes from it. I learned a lot about steady strength of character just by observing you. I saw in you the ability to take life's roads and walk them in Grace. You are a true Pioneer woman, and I have been honored to learn from you.

Love,

Rachel Crawford Shaw

TO SUBMIT YOUR SPECIAL MESSAGE TO THIS SPECIAL LADY, SEND AN EMAIL TO: info@familyoffaithcollege.edu.