The natural world and the scientific and mathematical tools we use to explore, measure, and understand it should fill us with awe and wonder, and light all kinds of inspirational fires in us. On a planet so desperately in need of scientific breakthroughs, engineering innovations, and newborn technologies, we should be thrilled by the excitement in and around the STEM disciplines. However, if a bending toward STEM means a diminishment of, or an abandonment of the humanities--of philosophy, religion, literature, language, history, social studies, music, and the arts--then we will have done the equivalent of exchanging the heat and warmth and deliriously life-giving power of our sun for a very static, and very precise, and ultimately profoundly meaningless measurement of a nearby dwarf star. In this article, Jill Donovan, an English teacher at John Burroughs School in Missouri, discusses the importance of teaching the humanities to students. She shares several interactions that helped shape her teaching, advising, grading, and conferencing.