a little less misery

I went into work feeling crappy today. It's cold and rainy, most students have Spring Break fever, and a good percentage of the entire Large Urban Community College population has either a stomach bug that causes horrible vomiting or a nasty respiratory virus that hits hard, starts to go away, and then comes back like an awful movie sequel no one thought should've been made. I'm fortunate enough to be in the latter category.

I went to one meeting where the person in charge was a no-show, one where a key player was 30 minutes late, and one that was nothing more than a bitch session. I was about to go home and call the day a total waste of time when all of a sudden I ran into Earnest Eddie on my way to the car. Eddie is one of those students community college proffies really root for. He's my age but got stuck in a dead-end job with his GED. He has a family to support, but he knows he wants something better for himself and for them. Unlike Naive Nancy in my earlier post, he knows his limits. He never takes more than two classes a term since he works full time. He's worked out an arrangement with his boss because she wants to see him succeed and move to a different division of his company.

Since Eddie started with such a huge skills deficit, he's had to take every one of our developmental classes. When I had him a year ago, he was repeating Developmental Hamster Editing a second time. His previous proffie told me, "Eddie is smart, but he just needs a little more time and practice to be ready for college-level work." I watched him do A-level work in practice sessions only to crash and burn with Cs and Ds on final products because he doubted himself and would second-guess simple concepts. But he kept working, I kept encouraging him, and he made it out.

Eddie gave me a big hug and asked how I was doing. I asked him how his studies were coming along. He grinned from ear to ear as he said, "EnglishDoc, I made a B in my first college-level writing class last term. I'm in the second one now and doing great! All I need to do is finish my last remedial math, and then I'll be doing college work in all my subjects." He said his boss had already recommended transferring him to another division where he'll have more responsibility since his skills have improved so much.

I told him to come by the office anytime he had a minute to catch up if he wanted, and he said he would definitely check in at the end of the term. As I walked to my car, I suddenly didn't feel so crappy.

I try to hold on to moments like this. They're a huge part of why I'm willing to put up with all the other misery.