I find that reading other columns in the newspaper motivates me to write more. I was reading a column this past week about graduation. It brought me back to my graduation, along with some memories from my year of college.
My former teacher wrote about his colleagues and his motivation to teach, how teachers just want to touch students’ lives, to inspire them, or help a student through a tough time. This reminded me of, well, more than a few moments in my life.
I remember a time I apologized to one of my teachers at the end of an eighth-grade class. I was, frankly, an annoying presence the entire class. I apologized and my teacher, who sat through the entire class, really not saying much about my behavior, simply said, in a stern, rather angry voice, “Then don’t do it.”
I asked this former teacher years later if he ever remembered. He didn’t. It wasn’t an important moment for him. It was for me. I realized something that day. If you can realize your bad behavior, then you don’t have to continue to act on it.
Another memory that came rushing back to me was the memory of my first day at college. I was incredibly nervous. My anxiety was through the roof. I remember the teacher started by doing a simple activity. Everyone in class would go around and introduce themselves, say something about themselves and where they see themselves in five years. There was one caveat. You had to repeat the name of everyone who had gone before you. There must have been between 30 or 40 people in the class. I went 30-for-30 on names. For some reason, that was all it took for me to relax, to settle in and know that everything was going to be O.K. I think it’s moments and little events like that, that a lot of teachers don’t even know happen, that are the reason people start teaching.
Other things I find in common with my graduating class has with the class of 2020: kindness, positivity, connectivity. I felt like my graduating class was a good class. Maybe it’s my perspective or bias, but I felt like the majority of our class treated each other with respect and kindness. It felt, in a way, that we had a feeling of family, of comradery. I wonder if that’s something all graduating classes have, or if it’s just a small town thing, or an NRHEG thing.
I’m incredibly glad I attended NRHEG and I would like to wish the class of 2020 nothing but the best as they move forward with the next chapter of their lives.