Tuesday, November 29, 2011

As the World turns ...

Been another interesting day. Let's see, American Airlines declares bankruptcy and nobody seemed to care.  Mr. Cain is probably pretty much head shot, they call it "reassessing" but head shot still the same and, well, nobody really seemed to care for there has been way too much smoke thus one can assume there is at least an ember of fire somewhere in all of the smoke; now being "reassessed."  Riots in Iran and, well, nobody seemed to care.  The political rancour continues to escalate and the Newtser is rising in the polls so no doubt he will be "reassessing" soon in his defense and the President, is off, well, campaigning and well, for one, me, I really don't care, really!

I had an interesting question posed to me yesterday by a former university dean in a doctor's waiting room. He was eighty-six years old, very distinguished, quiet as was his wife that engaged the conversation.  When the connection was made of my teaching and his tenure, he asked me this question, "you are still a very vibrant, energy filled young man (thank you sir, I thought) and you have seen and experienced much in your (young --- thanks again) life so as you look at the students in your classes today, what do you think about our future.?"  The really interesting context to that question is that the same basic question was posed to me the day before that at my church so both questioners got the same response.

My response was clear, unequivocal and well targeted .... I retorted quickly that I have never been more encouraged about our future if I adjudge it by the calibre of students I get to work with semester after semester.  I further stated that the almost absence of the "nuclear family" model of post WWII is blatant with the great majority of my students coming from single parent, blended, multi-partner relationships, etc.  I went on to say that now with three grand daughters, I realize in my own daughter that daugthers look to their fathers to be the model by which they will select a life partner and thus I realize how badly fathers are failing wives and family.  I went on to talk about the unbelievable addiction to student loan debt to pay for a lifestyle beyond their real means but that they have watched their home economy operated exactly the same way thus the model is set.  My new friend was pleased with my comments about the future and told me to "teach every day you can until you can't for the world needs teachers that so deeply care about their students and their future as you so obviously do .."  I felt a tear well up as he walked through the door with his bride of fifty-six years.

All day today those words have stimulated my mind.  A student this semester, she knows who she is, received a text from me today thanking her for her maturity, her always be prepared and contributivness to the discussiona in class.  She promptly texted me back a thank you with the caveat, "what prompted me to think of her in that light .."  now, with this blog, she knows for I believe she is a microcosm of our tomorrow, I hope. 

These students bring much good and not good into the class room.  What they "drag" around is very much different than what I dragged around.  Family deterioration, societal values shredded, corruption on every hand ... where are the role models or the supposed templates for tomorrow's leaders? That, my friends, is a HUGE question for each of us to ponder heavily for we the adults generally are failing in our role to provide those models and incentives.

One thing this almost eight years of university teaching at seven different campuses at three different universities, in now 110 classes to nearly 7,000 students has given me is a qualified and quantified position on students as a societal component much as the "Baby Boomers" were, I am one, when I began my collegiate endeavor in the late 1960s.  This generation is the 21st century "Baby Boomers" that will make or break the century and it is my bet that they will make it better than we have made it. I see frustration, a common drug culture, an "entitlement" mentality abounding in the macro environment and the recessed economy as the backdrop to mountains of debt. Who wouldn't be depressed and dismal, right?  But what I see are students in every class and in every semester rising above all of that to be better and I applaud and praise each one for that drive.

The relatively short time I have with these "makers of tomorrow" is the most fascinating contact point of my life.  There is a great metaphor about this man walking the seashore picking up star fish that are littering the beach and individually tossing them back into the sea.  A man walks up and asked the tosser why is he doing that for there are so many to which the tosser replies, yes, but for each one I toss back into the sea, it makes a difference. 

I consider the joy of my life in getting to be that tosser of my students / starfish into the waters of competitiveness with a future they will have fight every step of the way to achieve... but they will. They better for they have my touch on their lives and that touch is God-inspired I believe.  So why do I spend inordinate amounts of time in developing courses that stretch and challenge? Because as the "tall tosser," each of my starfish are worth it so how could I not do the best I can for them for it is them that are future.

Think about the starfish on your beach once in a while and see about leaning over, picking one or two or seven thousand up and tossing them, with your blessing, into the waters of the future.  Trust me, it will make you feel pretty good about life in general and yourself specifically.  And already have nearly fifty new starfish signed up for Spring semester, I can hardly wait!  In the "tossing" that means to me not destroying the connection with the professor / student but quite the contrary, to establish a lasting partnership that both parties commit to for the duration. It is a capital investment and both partners should seek for  and strive for a positive return on that investment.

And yes, I really, really care!

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