Hello again. I think I am going to really enjoy this whole blogging thing. It gives me an opportunity to say whatever I want to say without being censored because I control it. I am the H.B.I.C. The Head Blogger In Charge. Before I begin, I also want to thank you all for your immediate support. Thank you for the emails and the phone calls. Okay, enough of the pleasantries.
Many of you may not be aware of this but currently I teach courses at two of Houston’s local colleges. From the outside looking in, it may appear as a pretty interesting job. However, sometimes I wonder if teaching little children may be an easier task than teaching adults. Besides, at least when you teach children, you expect them to act like children, which, even at the worst case, ensures that your expectations of the students are met.
Recently, I had an episode with students that, honestly, made me want to just shoot myself and stab the bullet wound. My two primary pet peeves are: 1) stupidity, and 2) wasting my time. And, I promise, on this day, I believe the two of those pet peeves plotted to join together for the sole purposes of tormenting me.
For an entire week, I had been announcing to my students that they were scheduled to take a test on the following week. I gave the date, time, and subjects to be covered. I wrote the announcement on the white board at least a week in advance. Now, in my short time in the world of academia, I have noticed that there is a HUGE difference in the will and desire to succeed of today’s students compared to the students of our time. Therefore, I made it a point to do everything that I possibly could to make sure these students were prepared to not only take the exam, but to pass it with flying colors.
The day before the exam, I decided to have an in-class review session. Initially, the point of this review session was to give the students the opportunity to ask me any question that they wanted. However, the high that I received from whatever magical drugs that I was smoking that day, caused even more of an overwhelming feeling of generosity to overtake me. Honestly, I am just joking about smoking drugs. But the point is, I even went further in my generosity that day. In this in-class review session, I, literally, gave the students all of the questions and answers to the test. EVEN THE BONUS QUESTION!!! No tricks. No trades. I openly gave them every single question and answer, word for word.
On test day, again, I was overjoyed, as I gave all studens approximately fifteen additional minutes to study for an exam that I had already officially given them. At the conclusion of grading their exams, I was totally shocked. The majority of the students had failed. How, in the HELL, could they fail a test when they had all of the questions and answers? Again, like I said earlier, my pet peeves are stupidity and wasting my time. Imagine my disgust. Imagine my disappointment. Imagine my feeling of helplessness. All that I had done and it still wasn’t enough. That day, I truly wanted to walk away from it all. I wanted to throw my hands in the air, pack my bags, and quit. Or, as my mother would say, I just wanted to “run away and never come back.”
As I returned home that evening, I tried to think of every excuse possible to call in the next day. I even went as far as trying to call in and say that I don’t have any gas because gas prices are so high. But, in the middle of me dialing the third and the fourth digit of my supervisor’s phone number, I was reminded of a conversation that I had with a former student:
Student: “Mr. King, you do a lot for us and other people. Don’t you ever wanna quit?”
Me: “All the time…”
Student: “So, what makes you keep going?”
Me: (Sigh) “Because I realize that the manifestation of my predestination is dependent upon me continuing…”
In other words, for me to walk into what God has for me, I must continue to provide you with the seeds to help you be what God has called you to be.
For all of those that sometimes feel that all you do is never enough, I’m here to tell you to continue. The manifestation of your predestination is dependent upon you continuing to fight the good fight. Be Blessed.
Send me your thoughts.
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