"I just got the nicest email from a student" Topic

Sometimes at the end of the day, I just want to go home and bang boards apart with a lump hammer, since it's illegal to do that to students. But today I got an email that reminds me once again why I stay in this career.

There is a young man at my school. He's never been my student in class, but he's in the club I sponsor, and has been one of those scarily polite kids that you read about, but hardly ever meet. Opens the doors for teachers (male or female, but will run down the hall to open the door if he sees a woman approaching it). Carries boxes and things, even if your hands aren't really full, and the boxes are empty. Teaches himself physics, because there was no room in his schedule for the AP physics class.

The kid is sharp as a tack. Pretty certainly in the top 10 smartest kids I've ever dealt with on any level. I was sorry never to have him in my classes, although he probably would have made me feel thick as a brick.

In November I asked him what colleges he'd applied to. He's a senior; he should be making plans. "None," he told me. I nagged at him for two weeks to apply to some university. Anything out of the Valley; he could get into UT-PA easily enough if none of the others panned out. Two weeks before Christmas, he presented me with his list. On top? MIT, Caltech, Brown, Harvard, and some polytech institute in Chicago.

I stayed after school I don't know how many days to go over his application essays. He emailed them to me over the Christmas break. I was critiquing them right up to 1 January. The deadline was 2 January.

The week before last he showed me his acceptance letter from MIT. And the one from CalTech. Tonight he sent me an email thanking me for my help. And telling me that I am his most influential teacher.

Sometimes the littlest things are the biggest pay-off.

Nicely done! Its rare that one gets to hear how they've influenced another's life for the better. But it is always a tremendous feeling.

Now, if you could just pester my son into settling on a college or three…

Wyatt

We all need those positive moments to recharge ourselves.

Good job for the both of you!

I hope it is enough to sustain you, Neo. I love teaching, but I don't have the personality, patience or presence of mind to do it with kids under the circumstances you have to face. Please keep at it.

Aw, that's great Tacha!

It's gotta be a great feeling.

There is a reward, then. I've often wondered, having
decided long ago to not pursue a teaching career.

Thanks for saving that kid, Neotacha.

Well done.

A heart warming story. I needed that.

My teachers were all jerks. I was always placed in the back row of a 35 student class and could rarely hear them over coughs, shuffleing
around and extremely poor acoustics.
They were not only sub standard, but extremely hateful and more than willing to verbally scar thier pupils with dehumanizeing comments that made them laugh.
It's nice to know that at least we have one good teacher out there.

Wish I had you back in high school!

Thats awesome! What a great way to start the Friday!

Would that "some polytech institute in Chicago" be Illinois Institute of Techonolgy?

If he is a South Texas native, I would steer him to CalTech with its milder climate than the rest with IIT having the most severe of that group. It is real close to Lake Michigan.

You could really add some "Favorite Teacher" capital with that information.

Would that "some polytech institute in Chicago" be Illinois Institute of Techonolgy?

Quite possibly. I do know they had the strangest essay prompts, compared to the others. I worried about Carlos getting into it because frankly, it sounded like everyone was sniffing too much solvent.

At the moment he's leaning toward MIT. CA is too sprawling; I don't think he drives. We've sent a fair number of students to MIT over the years, and one of his UIL Science mentors is a junior there right now. Of course, it's all going to hinge on money.

WHAT?!?!!?…You didn't recommend him to TEXAS A&M?!?!?!?!…

What kind of woman are you?!?!?!?….

Murphy, she said he was "Bright"

You will note, Murphy, that I didn't recommend he apply to any Texas universities. I'm hoping to move him out of the rather parochial "The world ends at the Texas Border unless you're going to Mexico" viewpoint of the majority of our student body (and, sadly, some of our faculty and staff). He's a boy who needs to experience the greater world, but I don't think he's cut out for the military life.

By the way, you might want to check your meds; way too many punctuation marks in that last post… ;)

Congratulations Neotacha. That is what the job is supposed to be about but so seldom is. I will think good thoughts for his success.

Oh, well done, Neotacha!

And well done to Carlos!

Well done, well done. Sometimes those moments certainly make up for all the frustration in any job. Seems like that's one student who not only polite, but one who recognizes people who care about making things better -- folks like you. Good job!

Yer right 'Tacha…at least you didn't say "Berkeley is where you wanna go!!!"

"Berkeley is where you wanna go!!!"

As a freshman? No. Cattlecall classes, and about as traumatic a cultural change as you could find. Even the rest of California finds Berkeley (the city) "a bit much", though it is home to one of the longest surviving game stores in the timezone, and the campus is probably more multi-cultural than all of the Ivy League put together.

As a grad student? Sure. Half the city (heck, half the Bay Area) is "campus zone" and the Cal Marching Band has almost gotten past the "beer and Cheerios" pre-game breakfast tradition.

Thanks for taking the extra steps to make sure your students are succesful. Its great when a kid with aspiration and ability pair up with a caring guide.

In general teachers don't receive the level of respect that the profession once held, maybe with time we can change that.

Thank you, everyone, for the kudos and congrats. I really only posted this because too often we hear the bad things about work, and I wanted to share the good.

Well done, that boy! And his teacher!