Needed: Encouragement

I had an appointment in Bowling Green on Tuesday afternoon so I didn’t bother going to work. I only had one class that day: algebra. After class was over, I figured it would be a good time to go to the Meteorology lab and try to get my first lab done, but I was about ten minutes too early to get into the lab.

As students disappeared into buildings, I sat down on a low wall outside the building and got my algebra homework out to finish up the few problems I had left to do. I was deeply ensconced in radicals, exponents, and “to the power of's” when I heard someone say, “Hey, Sharon, what are you up to?”

I looked up and there stood my Meteorology instructor. He had just finished chaining his bike to the bike rack, his official protest to the $75 parking permit. I explained to him that I was passing a bit of time before heading up to try a dreaded lab. We chatted for a bit, and then suddenly he asked me if I thought his lectures are disjointed. I had been sensing that he has been frustrated in class. I told him that I thought his frustrations come from the fact that he knows so much more that he’s supposed to tell us right now and he’s having a hard time separating introductory stuff from how this stuff applies. He agreed.

I talked with him for quite a while. He voiced his frustration at the lack of caring on the part of many of his students. He wanted to know if some of his policies are unreasonable. I told him that I thought he has gone above and beyond the call of duty when trying to work with students and help them get good grades. I think that the students are taking advantage of him and exploiting his policies.

After we were done venting about all the spoiled students that have everything handed to them, I packed up my books to go to the lab. He went with me just to see if everything was working okay, since there had been major problems with people getting into the system. We walked up two flights of stairs to the lab. The lab assistant saw Mr. B and told him that his students have not been able to get into the system yet. I made an attempt but it didn’t work.

We then went our separate ways.

The next day, he basically opened the class up for questions over the material that we had already covered. I was one of the last to leave after class and considered sticking around to give him a bit of encouragement but he had asked to see one student after class and there were several others waiting to talk to him, so I just left.

I walked down the stairs and was about ten feet from the door when I heard someone say my name. I glanced around the lobby, pretty sure it was Mr. B’s voice I had just heard but didn’t think that he could have beat me down to the lobby. I didn’t see him there, but remembered that the landings of the stairs also serve as balconies. I looked straight up and Mr. B was standing there smiling at me. “What did you think of class today?” he asked. I gave him a thumbs up, and he shot me a big grin and walked away.

It kind of spoofs me that he would even seek my opinion, but I’m sure that it all stems from the fact that he was a classmate of Kris’s and so he feels a bit of familiarity there (since I look so much like her and all).

I guess it just proves that we all need encouragement…even professors.