Mabel Gomes on Teaching, Listening and the Lasting Reach of a Smile

For Mabel Gomes, education has never been limited to the information presented in a classroom. During her years as a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, she also counseled students about their academic paths and the broader challenges affecting their lives. That combination of teaching and listening shaped an approach centered on the whole person—not only what students needed to learn, but how they might understand their choices, growth and happiness.

Now retired, Mabel continues to reflect on the human questions that informed her work. Her perspective connects education with compassion, self-knowledge and the small interactions that can alter the tone of another person’s day. It is an outlook expressed most clearly through a brief message she once shared with a class: “Smiles are free–give them away.”

Looking Beyond Academic Knowledge

Mabel began teaching at John Jay College in 1994 and retired in 2022. Over those years, she came to believe that students were looking for more than academic instruction. In her view, many also needed help seeing a holistic picture of education, personal decisions and the challenges that accompany both.

Her work therefore included counseling students about academic concerns as well as life difficulties. She describes helping them consider meaning and personal direction alongside the formal subjects they were studying. Rather than treating these conversations as separate from education, she regarded them as part of the support students needed to make thoughtful choices.

This perspective did not depend on elaborate formulas. Sometimes an idea could be communicated in a single, memorable sentence. The message about giving away smiles became significant when a student returned to class the following week and described putting it into practice.

A Simple Message Carried Forward

According to Mabel’s account, the student smiled at a young man with a physical disability. A woman nearby interpreted his response in sign language: “Nobody ever smiled at me.” When the student recounted the exchange, the class responded emotionally.

For Mabel, the story illustrated how an ordinary gesture can matter in ways the person offering it may never anticipate. A smile requires no specialized knowledge, formal role or lengthy preparation. Yet in this instance, it became an acknowledgment of someone who said he had not received that recognition from others.

The moment also reflected the way an idea can move beyond its original setting. A sentence offered during a lecture was remembered by a student, applied in an everyday encounter and then brought back into the classroom as a shared lesson. Its reach did not come from complexity. It came from one person deciding to act with openness toward another.

Curiosity Beyond the Classroom

Mabel is Bangladeshi-American and moved to the United States in 1982. She lives in Richmond Hill, New York, and describes a life shaped by family, learning and continued curiosity. She is married and has three children and six grandchildren.

Reading remains one of her interests, as does listening to podcasts that range from ancient history to recent world events. She also enjoys gardening, singing and playing the harmonium, an instrument played with one hand while the other pumps air. Her appreciation of nature is especially connected to seasonal change: the colors of leaves, the arrival of spring and the recurring sense of renewal.

These interests share an attentiveness to patterns, stories and continuity. Gardening invites patience. Music requires listening. History encourages a wider view of individual experience. Together, they suggest a way of remaining engaged with the world after a long teaching career.

Trust, Service and Human Connection

Mabel is also involved with nonprofit organizations that reach out to children and young people as they navigate development and life challenges. This work reflects the same concern that informed her interactions with college students: young people benefit from support that recognizes both practical needs and personal formation.

One lesson she draws from her own life is the importance of trusting herself and listening to her inner voice. It is a personal conviction, but it also complements her educational outlook. Supporting others does not always mean supplying an answer. It can mean encouraging them to recognize their values, examine their choices and develop confidence in their own judgment.

Her classroom message continues to offer a concise expression of that philosophy. Human connection may begin with something freely given and easily overlooked. For Mabel, a smile is not a solution to every challenge. It is, however, a way to acknowledge another person—and a reminder that even the simplest lesson can travel farther than a teacher expects.