An Overdue Thank You Note to Teachers

Sometimes, I wonder what teachers are thinking when they write little encouraging notes on students’ assignments. And what I mean by that is, I wonder if they expect them to make any impact. So many teachers go into the profession hoping to change and shape students’ lives—to lead them to success and teach them to thrive. But, more often than not, they see an entire class fail a test (that the previous class did fine on), a student cheating, a generation whose writing abilities are seemingly growing extinct, or another parent complaining about her child’s grades. Meanwhile, there are those few students that never miss class, always come prepared, obviously study, and consistently do a good job. The teacher puts a small comment on the (probably too long) essay and moves on. The student continues doing what he/she always does. Nothing is said (though the kid who pulled his answer out of thin air has plenty to say about his grade).

Several teachers throughout my schooling career have been faithful commenters. The comments are usually small. Took five seconds of the teacher’s time, max. But they have had lasting influence on me, not that those teachers have ever known that.

She probably never realized that the smiley faces she put on the top of my paper when I did well made my entire day, because I was struggling with the adjustment from homeschooling to “normal school,” I felt behind when it came to math, and her class was the hardest class I had (and she was one of the teachers I admired the most).

There is no way he could have known that it took me three hours to complete that assignment, because I cannot be anything but nauseatingly thorough, even if I try. He could not have known that it was actually done from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., because I had dinner, church, and dorm devotions before I could ever even touch my pile of homework, and, halfway through, I had to take a few minutes to sob, because I was sleep deprived and homesick. All he knew was that I did my best, and he wrote “Your usual excellent work,” not knowing that doing assignments with a headache, minimal sleep, and an accompanying cry-fest was how I usually accomplished that work.

When she wrote “an excellent critique,” she could not have known I downloaded the assignment to Dropbox, thinking “I know my instructor will hate this. I have never done APA, and I had to cut out the majority of what I had to say to make it as short as she wanted. This is terrible work, and this will be the first impression she has of my writing.”

I doubt my teachers know how comments like “Wow!” “Excellent!” and “Great work!” have motivated my academic career.

Because, a lot of the time, it is the “A” students that get the least recognition. We work hard, and nobody expects anything else. “A” is so normal, not many think to congratulate you on it. The attention must be directed to the student who might not pass or the one who does not make use of intrinsic motivation.

Student gets an “A.” You do not congratulate him. He still gets another “A.”

Student gets an “A.” You do congratulate him. He still gets another “A.”

It is hard to see your actions making any difference, but believe me, they do. It was those smiley faces that let me know you were proud of me, and that I was going to be okay. It was the little comments on my discussion forums that motivated me to keep doing my best, even though I knew that people who worked half as long as I did got the same exact grade. I wanted you to know that I would keep working at the top of my game, because you noticed. It was that comment on my first article critique that has kept me from giving up hope on all future writing assignments. It is the little “wow’s” and “excellent’s” on my homework assignments that have made your other homework assignments from being so tedious, because I know you notice and appreciate thorough work.

So, what are you thinking when you write those comments? That they will be overlooked? Fleetingly appreciated, then forgotten? That maybe they are not worth your time?

They are. Please, do not stop. You never know when your “A” student is on the brink of giving up hope—and his/her GPA. And you never know which comment may be the little tug that pulls the kid back and gives him/her the motivation to keep going. Because we respect you. We appreciate  you.

We thank you.

Hard Times~Good Things

Psalm 84: 11, 12

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield:

the Lord bestows favour and honour.

No good thing does he withhold

from those who walk uprightly.

O Lord of hosts,

blessed is the one who trusts in you.”

Coach Carver, a beloved family friend and CCC professor, posted this verse and some of his personal commentary just the other day. I have recently purposed in my heart to always read his updates, because I have been noticing the side effects of not being surrounded by Bible classes, God-fearing professors, RD’s, RA’s, and DL’s every day of the week. Just like my muscles, which have not been worked as hard since school started as they were this summer, my spiritual life is experiencing atrophy, and I need more support than I am taking in. Of course, his words were exactly what I needed to hear on that particular day. In fact, I’ve been needing to hear them for quite some time, but maybe my heart was not ready to receive them until now. Coach emphasized, “No good thing does He withhold, that is, nothing He deems good for us at the present time.” To be 100% honest, I selfishly have been thinking that I need more “good” than I feel like I’ve been getting.

It made for a crazy start to nursing school,
but Micah's birth and quality time with BOTH
my sisters is something I would NEVER change.

This semester has been hard so far, and not for the reasons I thought it would be. They are easing us into the nursing program, so this is not the hardest I have ever been pushed academically (yet). In fact, the stark difference of school dynamic and only having classes three days a week have made it very hard to get settled into a study routine, and I feel like I have been doing the bare minimum. Not only that, but the first month or so of school was a whirlwind of nephew, sisters, and spontaneous weekend trips, so, at that time in particular, I was really just keeping my head above the water (more accurately, God’s grace and mercy were keeping my head above the water). Add onto this the transition from living on a campus—with constant social interaction and support—to living at home as the only child (since all the other ones have done those things called marriage and moving away). A wonderful woman—wife of one of Berean’s teachers/coaches—warned me of one of the main things I might go through with this transition: loneliness. You see, she did almost the exact same thing that I am doing. She lived in this area, went away to CCC for a couple years, then returned home to finish college locally. She mentioned how hard it was to go from living with 7 other girls to living at home with just her parents for company. Though she loved her parents, it’s just not the same, and loneliness is likely to creep in. I really did not expect this to be a huge deal for me; after all, I have some friends here, and I have made new ones. But she was right; living with parents and going to visit friends is not the same as living with friends. I have found myself jealous of the other CCC kids who, despite having been reluctantly jolted from their Florida community into new colleges, are, many of them, at a school with at least one other Clearwater student. They are dispersed, but not alone. I have felt very alone.

Speaking of thankful for new friends,
if it weren't for this girl, who knows
how I would have survived so far!
God brings people along right when
you need them! 

It makes it sound like I don’t appreciate my friends here, but I do. I am so very thankful for my friends, old and new; they have already helped me through so much. But Clearwater was a home to me, and those people were family. There was an intimacy there that was grown through time, laughter, and shared heartaches. And those friends were always around when I needed them—literally steps away. I am probably the world’s worst person at keeping up with people, so that also doesn’t help things. Nor does the fact that Matty’s schedule and mine are painfully incompatible 85% of the time—long distance stinks more than I thought it would. And I did not have glowing expectations to begin with.

So here I was, bemoaning my circumstances. I have yet to settle into school—academics being the one thing in my life that I usually have a sort of a handle on. There is no longer Easter Library at which to meet up with Stacie, Matty, Colton, and/or Harrison—to “study” (i.e. drink unreasonable amounts of coffee, laugh, and somehow learn along the way). There are no post-dinner walks with Matty to unload my stress and worries and day events. Em is no longer around to overdramatically share academic concerns. Stacie can’t grab me on our way out of DL meeting and force me (in her gentle and loving way) to fess up with what is bothering me. There’s no Colton to serenade us all with his guitar as we actually do get work done in Steele lobby. No Nienhuis to sit in my room as I do my devos then talk about life with me before I head to Cantorum. (And there’s no choir/Cantorum to satisfy my musical side.) There is no brunch on late Saturday mornings, surrounded by people who know me, get me, and love me…or endless fruit. There are no calls from Gerson when I oversleep (thankfully, I haven’t overslept yet), or Adam to give me a hard time when my brain isn’t functioning 100%. Or Yeater to give me a hard time….regardless of how my brain is functioning. Or a never-failing pun or moment of Mumford obsession from Jake. Life is feeling tedious, and school, unending. I felt like I was missing out on the good and getting an overwhelming dose of mediocre.

Look how funny he thinks he is, tickling me as if it's cute...
 Only 32 more days, and he'll be in Chatt! He has been the
strong optimist this time around, insisting that we will see
each other "soon," even when "soon" meant the longest stretch
of being apart that we've had to stick out since we started dating

Then I read that post, and I was reminded that God is giving me exactly what I need right now. He wants me to be here, doing what I’m doing, because it’s what is best for me at this time. It’s not robbery that I have to be two states away from Matty; it’s the optimal distance for us right now. It’s not drudgery that I have two years of nursing school; it’s a blessing—one that I know I don’t deserve. It’s not unfair that I’m away from my CCC family; we are all with whom we are supposed to be with, to grow us and teach us most efficiently. God taught me so much in my two years at CCC; I have to remember that those lessons were to prepare me for where I am now. And where I am now has lessons to prepare me for wherever I head next. And all those lessons combined will help me through the rest of life, where I will continue to learn and grow and be surprised. I must focus on Christ, my sun and shield, trust in Him, and walk uprightly. I must not be sluggish—academically or spiritually. He is not withholding any good from me, and I must not withhold any worship and praise from Him.

“I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;

with my mouth I will make known

your faithfulness to all generations.”

Psalm 89:1