There are some who start their retirement long before they stop working. -Robert Half

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Some of My Students.

I've talked quite a bit about my retirement, but not much about my job. I am a College Advisor with the Missouri College Advising Corps at two small rural high schools in the middle of Missouri. MCAC aims to place recent college graduates into rural and inner-city high schools to help with access to information about college and help with the processes. So here is a little summary of my favorite experiences:
1) One of my auto tech students comes to see me at least 3 times every week. Sometimes we talk about college and other times he talks about cars (a language I am not very fluent in...). I told him I need a new car so for a few months, he would come in every day with a different car he thought I would like. Turns out I don't get paid enough to get a new car. Thus, I resorted to asking questions about repairing my current car. One day I was really proud of myself because I remembered to get my oil changed so I told him and he goes: "WHAT!? You don't change your own oil in your car?! You actually take it to a place to get it changed?!" and I said: "Yes. I do." He proceeded to explain to me that jacking up my white Chevy Malibu, removing filters, and replacing oils (while being careful not to burn the flesh from my hands) was simple and it is stupid to take it to the shop. I told him that isn't simple and I'm going to continue taking it in. I like how I had no idea people changed their own oil and he had no idea people took their cars to the shop to get their oil changed. Sometimes I really think I'm in a different world.
2) One of my students applied to MU and REALLY wanted to go there. Like she had no other choices for schools, so I was praying that she got in so that her hopes weren't crushed. Anyway, she submitted her application in October and from October to January, she came into my office almost every day to call MU to see if she was admitted. FINALLY, on January 9, she came down to my office and told me to pull up the website and she was admitted! She then started running up and down the halls telling everyone she saw and crying tears of joy.
3) I have a student that has pretty low grades and he was really bummed because he didn't think he was going to get into a 4-year school and would have to go to a 2-year, which he didn't want to do. I told him that we're going to apply to any school he wants and once he gets his ACT score back, we'll decide what is reasonable. When ACT scores were sent out, he came running into my office and told me to step away from the computer and close my eyes, and when I opened them, he was beaming up at me with his score of 24 shining from the computer behind him. He then told me: "Now I can go to a college I want to go to!"
4) My office at one of my schools is right across from the band closet, so every day at 2:17, the students come up to get there instruments. This is the time that I call "The Bombardment" because on their way to get their horns, tons of students pile into my office and all start talking to me at the same time. It is very overwhelming and I just end up sitting and smiling and laughing, pretending like I am comprehending what they are all saying to me. The other exciting thing about sitting by the band room is that I get to hear the band practice, which gives me a little excitement.
5) There are three foreign exchange students at one of my schools and they are hilarious. One day, the school was having a blood drive and the German student came up to me in the hall joking: "They won't let me give blood! They don't want my dirty German blood!" Apparently, he'd been running up and down the halls yelling this all morning.He then tried to pursuade me to give blood so that I could get him a piece of pizza.

3 comments:

  1. 1) I'd like to see you try and change your own oil. Wait until I have my video camera up so I can post that on You-Tube

    2) Kudos to her! Kinda made me tear up a bit. Sad stories mix wonderful with my extra emotions I have going right now.

    3) 24.....must be nice....*sigh*

    4) band... are you kidding me.

    5) I dated a German once...

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  2. Your job sounds satisfying, even if it doesn't pay you enough to buy a new car.

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  3. Your students are hilarious. I love the Mizzou girl! She's too cute!

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