WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2014
The Yaro.
We're in a lovely valley, and the sun obliges in winter with long and careful tracking through our southern windows. How the cares and worries of a long academic career have faded, swiftly, in a wink. Surprising. What weight they all had at one point, and now, not even a feather's worth.
I do check in on these pages, though not as often as I did once. And I send you all my good wishes as you solve and sometimes re-solve problems that afflict all of us who love higher education (and longshot ponies).
A former colleague, Ianthe, wrote me last week with a long list of academic grievances. She was a mentee years ago, and I suppose always thus. Her list was not unlike your own, I imagine, and it broke my spirit to see how hard she fought, seemingly without assistance from those around her. I replied to her, "Tell me, dear Ianthe, a story of your favorite student this term. Tell me how that student surprised you, awakened you, showed you that the endeavour was still worth the striving. If you can tell me about one, then there is reason enough to continue."
And of course, she could. And of course, she did. And it was a funny tale, and one that I recognized in the fading and nearly lost faces of my own dears over the, well, over it all, over my whole life.
And Ianthe's joy shone through in her words and the tale, and we exchanged our Happy New Years, electronically, in the manner.
I will no doubt hear from Ianthe again, and I hope to remind her in the same way, of the small gifts of a good student, the sudden silver in our spirits.
I bless you all with my good thoughts on this new year.
Yaro
Indeed. We come here for the smackdown. We continue teaching for the ones who get it.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, and a Happy New Semester to all!
Oh, how I miss Yaro! And many of the other "regulars" from before. Where are you all?
ReplyDeleteI'm here. And I'm happy to see the regulars are still around! (And no captcha!)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite student last fall? I have one! The anonymous student who wrote in his/her course review:
"If I ever became a professor, that's about what I would shoot for. Although, I feel like as a class we were all incredible disappointing to him. He kept on having to lower is standards for us. I still cringe at some of the stupid things I've said and written on my homeworks and tests. I haven't felt that way in a class since high school. "
(This was a senior-level class for majors.) Happy New Year y'all!