It's a new semester and graduate Philosophy student Ben Hamby, 29, is busy moving into the small, shared office granted to teaching associates. The New Hampshire native, dressed elegantly with sky-blue eyes hidden behind a pair of dark BluBlockers, is entering his fourth semester of teaching at SF State with two Philosophy classes this fall.

But this semester will be his first in which he gets to use his own book to instruct—and it happened almost by accident.

Hamby had a fateful meeting in spring 2006 at a faculty book fair with publisher Frank Forcier from the Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. He was looking for a book on critical thinking, and the publisher said he didn’t have any so he suggested Hamby write his own. The young philosopher didn’t take him seriously until the publishing company contacted him later that summer.

After signing an agreement in the fall of 2006, Hamby says he “slacked” on the project for a while, finishing his book between sections of Critical Thinking and Philosophy seminars he taught and his own graduate education to pursue.

“It’s a balance," Hamby said of teaching 18-year-olds how to think philosophically. "You have to skate the line of being friendly without being anyone’s friend, be serious and engaging but not a jerk.”

Hamby has left a positive impression on people in his department.

Wolfgang Behm, a second-year graduate student who has had classes with Hamby calls him “one of the few people that lives what he preaches."

"He takes his stuff seriously," Behm said, "and for that reason he’s a man of character and I appreciate that.”

In his book, Hamby encourages students and working professionals alike to question life choices. He said his book— which is meant to supplement textbooks—includes no exercises and the philosophical questions are buried in the conversational text.

Even the cover sets it apart from most textbooks, a swirling cartoon manifestation of thought and philosophy designed by his childhood friend, Dan James. Obviously thrilled with the outcome, Hamby said that “if books are judged by their covers, this is the best book ever."

This semester, due to an expansion of the graduate teaching associate program, Hamby has added section of Introduction to Philosophy to his instructional plate.

“Teaching is a learning experience for me," Hamby said. "Just because the department trusts me to teach doesn’t mean I’ve got it all figured out.”

For now, he is attempting to liven up the cramped office—ornated only with a full bookshelf, a dirty black Persian rug and a container of cocktail spears—by adding four lush plants near the large window of the office and stocking his drawer with Odwalla bars.

Kurt Nutting, an SF State faculty member since 1983, calls Hamby “a very good student. I’ve seen him teach and he’s a good teacher.”

Before SF State, Hamby taught fifth grade students while serving as a full-time volunteer in AmeriCorps for one year after graduating from the University of New Hampshire in 2000. He has also taught in an after-school program at an east Oakland elementary, working with preschoolers with behavioral issues, tutored for two and a half years, and offers private tutoring to supplement his income.

Hamby graduated from college with bachelor's degree in business administration, but chose to focus on what he learned from his minor in Philosophy as a career because “ as an academic subject and a way of living, [it] underpins everything that has to do with being a person. That’s what PhD stands for: doctor of philosophy. If you study any subject enough, it becomes a philosophical study,” he says.

When asked to describe himself, Hamby sounds like someone who is passionate about his intellectual pursuits and life goals.

“I love to learn," he said. "I struggle with being the best person I can be with my friends, my family, my loved ones. I believe in right livelihood, right speech, and right thinking. I feel conflicted about a lot of things.”

Hamby has traversed the void between student and teacher. He knows what it’s like to cram for a final, and he’s tasted the power of holding someone’s grade in his hands.

“People make opportunities for themselves,” he says, "I’ve tried to take advantage of opportunities here [at State] and in the past. I have goals and dreams and have fulfilled them to a great degree, but I’m still figuring it out, too.”