Dreams, not All are Bad

Last night's bad dreams (mentioned on yesterday's page) turned to fantasy this afternoon after a fairly productive and positive classroom sesson this morning. I arrived back at the Writing Center for my 12:30-1:30 middle of the day duty and opened the email account that I use exclusively with students.

An amazing email tumbled out . . . I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. The student is a single dad in his early 30s and a former marine, which obviously makes him immensely different than the 18-20 year old students. He's been a quality student since the first day of the semester, even though he thought he'd be inferior because he's been out of school for "so long." Don't skip his story:

Hi Carol, I was going through my work and realized I still owed you an email from on-line lesson 7. I apologize. It was in that two week period when I found out about my medical issue and didn't go to class. I thought that I would have to drop the classes immediately so I can have surgery so I really fell behind. Since then, I have been playing ketch-up. Just to let you know exactly what is going on, my doctors found a large aortic aneurysm, called a Sinus of Valsalva Aneurysm, on my aorta, and I need to have open heart surgery to repair it before it ruptures. Next Tuesday, I have my last test, a CT scan, then the following week I will meet with the doctor to talk about and schedule the surgery. It might happen before the end of the semester; so I might not be able to finish the class. I have a lot on my mind right now, but I thought that staying in my classes would help to take my mind off of the issue. So, here is the lesson 7 email and my picture. I'll have my book work caught up by next session as well. Thank you, (his name is removed for obvious reasons)

That was just the first paragraph of his email. The rest is below. I was stunned to learn his condition and concerned because he has a son to take care of and I don't know if he has any family support. So I emailed to express my concern, offer help if he needs it, and to let him know that he has already passed the class and that he has no need to worry about receiving a poor grade at the end. He's a superior student; he will have a matching semester grade.

I'm concerned that someone will read the next paragraph and think I am boasting, but honestly, I deal with such negativity from students that I want to keep this and be able to read it again and again and especially on the days when I think I need to jump off a bridge because my students hate me so much because I make them work "so hard" and I don't reward their less than stellar work with top grades; top grades are earned when students produce quality. Honestly, I wouldn't want to go to a surgeon who had earned her degree by begging the grade. I don't want an account who received the passing score by doing the extra credit, but failed every quiz. I want the architect or engineer who designs the building or machinary to have a degree that is backed by knowledge and learned skill. So I grade according to the standards. I'll never win the popularity "professor of the year" contest. So paragraphs like the one below are keepers.

So I was astonished when I read this student's comments and they are really more about the course and himself than me, so I think it is okay to post them here:

English 50 has given me a new found love for writing. I have always wanted to write a book or start a blog, but I did not feel that I had the talent to do so. Probably the most important thing I learned this semester is that anyone can learn to write; it just takes practice. I feel like all my prior schooling only covered the fundamentals of writing to a bare minimum, and focused more on reading and doing book reports. I hated it. Now, each week, I learn something new that I really feel is helping me to get better. For the first time in my academic life, I actually enjoy my English class. I intend to continue on to ENG 1A and beyond. The second most important lesson I learned is that when I take an English class, I will make it the main class of the semester so I can devote the lion's share of my time to my writing. This semester I made the mistake of making ENG 50 an accessory class to my EMS 50/51, which leaves me swamped with work and no time to really practice. My placement score placed me in ENG 1A, but it had been so long since I had been to an English class that I thought I would be better served getting a refresher in ENG 50. That was an excellent decision!

Maybe I should give him a invitation to Blipfoto so he can blog.

After my comments last night, I think a look at the flip-side of the coin today is valuable. Today's photo is their in-class essays that I did return today, and the actual email from the student, and the students in this morning's classroom (I told them to look away if they didn't want their face in the photo).

This evening I am thankful that all dreams aren't nightmares! And thanks for all the comments yesterday. I especially appreciated the story from Dorrit.

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