Graduation Day posted 3/16/2008 10:01:15 PM | 3 kudos what's this?     report abuse

Injuneer

Well, today my latest class finished up all their training, lab work, and tested out. Not a failing grade in the bunch. Man, I was proud of those folks because I was especially tough on them and pushed them way beyond what the normal cirriculum calls for. They griped, they strained, turned a little red faced at times and in the end, nearly all of them broke down in tears at the thought there wouldn't be a class next weekend. I was particularly touched by one of my tougher students.

She's a middle aged black girl with a fairly obvious chip on her shoulder about a lot of things so I had to naturally engage her in some tough conversation; particulary since the people she's going to be calling clients are going to come in all sizes, shapes, colors, and temperments. She was tough and we went toe to toe a few times. In the end, she was balling like a kid, came up and gave me a big hug and said "you know Mr. W, you were really tough on me and I know we had a few words but your the first white man that made me think without pissing me off". She went on to tell me about some of the stuff she had gone through because of a lot of issues that were surrounded by the color barrier.

I was flattered. That's the one thing about teaching I really love; when you can reach a person and make them look inward and see both their flaws as well as their strengths. You know, that same kind of barrier & conflict often exists within ourselves for a lot more reasons than color. When we go through a nasty divorce of any kind, we tend to put up a lot of walls around us and reinforce them through misconceptions just to find a way to protect ourselves from getting hurt again. We lock ourselves away and will do or say just about anything to prevent ever having to face the risk of that kind of hurt again.

The hardest thing to do is to trust, especially after you have been hurt by a person that you trusted. I salute the young lady that opened her heart just a crack and allowed a few new idea's and concepts into her heart. She has discovered that not every person out here is out to take something from her or to hurt her. She's found at least one person that puts as much value and trust into her as she wants and needs. Now her job is to take that message forward and teach one more person the same thing.

Slowly, but surely, we can make this a better world. I am reminded of that age old maximum that applies to each of us. "It is the duty of the old to teach the young, and to obligate them to do the same".

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Blogs by Injuneer: The Reminder Just One of Those Tiny Little …. Temptations Book Two Writing Your Epitaph Are You Being Served? So What? The Enhancement Trap Your Last Supper Your Quality of Life To The Congress ... A National Discussion Graduation Day Great Men Are Seldom Good Men Fixing a Housing Crises RIP Hillary, The Adventurer “Pressing” the Point The Debate Life, as an Idiot And Then There Were Two . . . Professional Shame Playing The Game Who to Blame? The Passage Happy Birthday