...bon voyage !

I taught for nearly 40 years...
around 3000 students...
elementary school to college...
music, English, reading...
history, careers...


the first day was always so full of promise...
nervous excitement, anticipation...
and a little scary...

when I was a student, it was that way too...
the promise of learning new things...
having interesting experiences...
finding out how things worked...

the lure of the laboratory...
the smell of new books...
endless lines to register or sign-in...
[yes, this was way before computers...]
and learning your "way" around...

a good friend starts her college career Monday...
and I couldn't be more pleased for her...
for as long as I've known that she didn't attended college...
I have believed that she should do this...

anyone who knows her...
would probably be as surprised as I was...
to discover that she had only taken a class or two...
many years ago...and had never worked on a degree...

I say surprised...
because when you get to know her...
work with her, talk with her or read her writing...
she is so very well-spoken...
and well versed in many areas...

it is quite an accomplishment...

for her intellect to have become so well polished
without having spent time on the university level...

this is, thanks in large part,
to her desire for knowledge...
her love of learning...
and her innate curiosity about everything ...
[well, everything that is... except math...]

these traits have driven her to read voraciously....
in a multitude of disciplines...
and being very intelligent, she has become educated...
well beyond the secondary level...
largely through her own efforts and desire...
[did I mention that English was NOT her first language ?]

she will be attending classes with students
who have many varied backgrounds
and learning styles...


the driven ones who need to get good grades to transfer...
the "brown-nosers", who want attention...
the lazy ones who didn't get the grades for a 4 year school...
or who don't want to get a job or move out of their parents home...
and the ones who haven't a clue where they're going...

there will be other "mature" students, like herself...
starting over... continuing on... or just passing time...
[been there, done that... NOT easy..."after 40"...]


there will be hard workers, hardly workers and those in-between...
class clowns, "tortured souls", true believers and misfits...
students with nothing...students with everything...
smart ones...dense ones and everything in the middle...
quiet ones, noisy ones, sleeping ones, absent ones...



and there are as many kinds of teachers ...
as there are students...

there are teachers who've been "beat down" ...
by indifferent students and the system...
putting in their time, cashing their check...
and counting the days until retirement...


there are the "martinets"...lords of their domain...
bullies, because they can get away with it...
holding students "hostage"... assigning endless papers...
insisting on "their way...or the highway"...
ransoming grades with submission... a total power trip...
THIS is not a battle anyone can "win"...

there are the "nurturers", who are in loco parentis...
doing the "tough love" for those "late bloomers"...
there are "wind bags"... full of themselves...
aging Hippies, who try to be "cool"...
and the ones who think "June, July & August"...
are the 3 BEST reasons to teach...
[they probably WON'T be teaching summer school...]

I hope she'll manage to avoid most of those...
though with her real life experience advantage...
she'll be able to identify them quickly...
and deal with the situation better than most...

I really hope that she gets to work with some of the good ones...
the ones who still love teaching...
who try to understand ...
and care about the students who populate their classes...

who still feel passionately about their subject...
and can transmit that appreciation to their students...
the effective ones... who don't judge the value of their class,
by the length of their syllabus... # of assignments made...
or pages to be read, before the next class meeting...
and who grade student work fairly...

of the nearly 3000 students I've worked with...
only 1 or 2, in 40 years, were even close to that unique blend...
of quick intelligence, curiosity, creative talent, work ethic, desire to learn, courage, resiliency...
and being "a genuinely good human being"...
that my friend is...

I would have loved having her in my class...



her chosen path will be difficult at times...
she will encounter obstacles...
but if she keeps her faith strong...
and her "eyes on the prize"...
while trying to enjoy the journey...
she will persevere...and reach her goal...

so here's wishing all the very best for you...
Miz Minka...
no one deserves this opportunity more than you do...
and may God continue to richly bless both you ...
and your journey...