Meaningful Moment

Tuesdays are my longest day at the campus, so I had exited the Writing Lab, walked across the campus to my office to unload my "rolling box" -- to take out the things that I did not need to bring home and then to load and take home the two stacks of essays I had collected this morning. The "rolling box" was silently screaming "overload" as I wheeled it from my office, turned to lock my door, and headed for the parking lot.

Once in the parking lot, I rolled the box to the back of my car, unlocked my car's trunk, stepped to the driver's side door and also unlocked it. Then I unloaded the stacks of essays into the trunk so I would not be lifting all the weight at once as I put the rolling box in the trunk.

The sun was low on the horizon and the glare was blinding. I saw a tall male approaching, when he spoke my name. I said, "Yes," and then he began to simply say "Thank You!"

I must have done a double take and then he explained that he had been in my class several semesters ago and he wanted me to know how much the skills he learned in the class have been helping him. Because writing classes are stressful for many people, I seldom hear those two words from students.

I asked about his future -- what he was majoring in and he said he was hoping to get in the P.A. program (physician assistant). He explained that the class sizes had been cut due to the economy and that possibly he'd change his major to biology to increase his career options. I wished him success and expressed my appreciation for his very thoughtful words to me and then we said our goodbyes and I stood watching him walk away into the blazing sunlight.

I got in my car, drove the mile-and-a-half home while blinking back tears. On very rare occasions a former student conveys gratitude. Today was one of those rare occasions. His path intersected with mine and he stopped just long enough to transform my afternoon from mundane to magic! If it sounds like I am tooting my own horn, I'm sorry. It just is terrific to know that what I do in the classroom is making a difference in someone's academic and career life. I'm really thankful for a student who let me know.

Good night from southern California
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol