Little Reminders

Hello, and ummm again, sorry for the little hiatus. Finals week went by in kind of a flash and now I’m back in Ohio. Actually, I’ve been back since late Thursday night. Since then, I’ve had a super-lazy day, a shopping-packed day (I don’t know, Christmas is coming or something?), a baking day, and I went back to my high school on Monday. Let’s talk about that 🙂

I went back as a student ambassador for UChicago, and the goal was to talk to some prospective students. However, given that it’s about time for midterms at the high school, students weren’t all that keen on skipping review to come talk to me. So, I talked to the college counselor and then I got to visit my old teachers, and that was kind of my favorite thing ever.

Mostly, our conversations were pretty short, and I told them that I love Chicago and talked a bit about my classes and future plans and all that. After all, teachers have classes to tend to.

I spent about a half an hour with one of my teachers from a few years ago, though, and it was so, so excellent to catch up with him. We talked about curriculum changes, family, college, and books and it was great. Then, with just a few minutes left before the bell rang, all of his students finished up the tests they were taking and he pretty much told me to talk to them.

This is the kind of thing I wish I was good at. I’d like to think that, having been in their seats three years ago, I have some sort of wisdom that I could pass on to them. When the time actually comes, I tell them silly things they’ve heard a million times:

Read the textbook.

Have so much fun, but do the work, too.

Enjoy learning, and do it whenever you can.

College is so different, and it’s not easy, but it’s so wonderful.

But that’s where the incredible teacher in the room stepped in.

Why is college so wonderful if it’s not easy?

And I had to think, because even though I ask myself this all the time, I’m not sure I’ve ever had a real answer. I usually just dismiss the question.

You’re surrounded by other people who are like you and so not. They’re excited about learning and talking about what they’re learning. And people listen to you, and you listen to them – and you all just learn things. That feeling of community and all that enthusiasm.

He then proceeded to explain to the class that I had sat in that seat right over there and that I had not done so well on my first test in the class. (I didn’t even remember that. To be fair, nobody did all that well on that one…) He then went on to explain that even though I hadn’t done well on my first test, I had done well in the class overall, and in future classes, and in high school. And then he asked me for the lesson there.

One test – even one class – doesn’t define anything. It doesn’t indicate how successful you’ll be in future endeavors, and you can be really successful in spite of those. You just learn from them and do better next time.

It’s really, really easy – in school and in life – to feel like one “failure” will shape everything you are and everything you do in the future.

It’s really, really easy to forget the most important thing, though, so here’s a little reminder: it doesn’t.

What little reminders do you need sometimes?