30 Something

I met with one of my students on yesterday. This is a student who is so confusing to work with. I never understand where he's coming from. So he finally meets with me after several unsuccessful meetings. I talk to him about registering for the fall. We get a schedule going. Then I talk to him about his current classes. He was on academic probation and he dropped two of his classes so as a consequence he is not eligible for financial aid so he is going to pay for his classes for the fall. I asked him what would make the fall semester a more successful semester? He went on to tell me that he needed a guarantee (his words) that he was going to be successful. He stated that he didn't believe that he could do it. So I asked him what type of guarantee did he need because no one could give him a guarantee. It was up to him. He began to back out of my office as I was talking to him. I think I hit a nerve, but it's so funny that I listened to Lou Tice talk about belief and here this student was struggling to believe that he could make it. I can say that I do understand the struggle. I used to have a lot of goals and big dreams, but there were a few things that picked away at my self-esteem and slowly those goals and dreams started to fade. I started to get lost because without the goal I had nothing. Therefore, with no goals there is no belief in myself, in my purpose. I'm slowly getting back to the place where there's a purpose in my being, but it can be difficult when there is nothing to look forward to. I wanted to let my student know that I wasn't beating him up, but that he had to be the one who gives the guarantee for his life and no one else. I hope he got that.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2006 at 12:27 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.