I recently read an article written by a sports writer that covers IndyRacing. The article was a fare well of sorts as his health is failing. He was writing about his career and the great adventures and accomplishments he’d had. But what came through wasn’t the races or tracks he covered but the people he met along the way and their impact on his life. Since I’m not a real fan of IndyRacing I knew very few of the names of the people he mentioned but it seemed obvious it was the people that made his career memorable and successful.
Reading the article was timely for me in that we seldom reflect on our past work experiences even though those are the very things that shaped our lives and the people we are and became.
Friday night I was doing what I do most Friday nights, waiting for Shari at Cooney’s before we go to dinner. On this Friday night I was greeted by two former students (Dean & Ann) who were driving by, saw my car and stopped in to say “hi.” It’s always good to see the couple and talk about their family and careers. We visited for a while and when they left Ann hugged me and said “I love you” followed by “thank you.”
It’s moments like that that make me know how lucky I was to be able to do what I did for almost three decades. Without knowing it I was having an influence on young peoples lives. I thought I was just doing my job.
I came across the Steve Jobs quote (above) many years after I began my teaching career but knew exactly what it meant. I had said for years that was one of the luckiest people I knew that I had very few days in my career that I didn’t look forward to going to the college. The classroom, the hallways, my office were such a positive environment you couldn’t help but love being there.
The funny thing about Friday night was that Ann ended the encounter by saying “thank you.” No Ann, “thank you” to you and Dean and to the hundreds of students that made me the person I am.
And thank you Steve Jobs for putting words to my thoughts.
August 1, 2021
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