To Today, A Great Day for Learning

A minute before class starts, Peter comes in, takes his seat in the front row, and announces, “It’s a great day for learning!”

 

Maybe he’s being a smartass, but judging by the look on his face, I don’t think so. He’s four weeks into his college career and feels like his is on a path, on THE path, and I take him at his word and agree, yes, today is a great day for learning.

 Only, we what we thought we were going to learn and what the actual lessons are will be two very different things.

 

One person learns her supervisor has no respect for her. The supervisor thinks she is grandiose and doesn’t think about the others, which is especially bad because she is new and hasn’t earned the right to be so arrogant. She hears about this through a friend who works on the floor below her. The friend has made a special trip up to see her, though it’s dropped in casual conversation. “Don’t worry,” the friend says, “I’m sure it’s fine.” She will have to learn how to walk down the hall all over again.

Another person learns, perhaps discovers is a better word, that he does not want to be a lawyer. Not anymore. Despite his growing practice and the award he won last month, he wants to be a carpenter. He imagines the smell of the wood, the sound of the nail gun. He has a son, 12, who he takes to Indians games. They sit in the cheap seats and have two hot dogs each. He wants his son to be happy, but doesn’t know how to teach him to be happy. He thinks about seeing the finished product, the perfect edges coming together at just the right angle. As a lawyer, he never gets to see how his work turns out; it’s never finished. He would be happier if he could work with something solid. His son won’t be any more or less happy than anyone else. He will learn he can’t teach his son happiness.

Today, all your lessons are hard. We learn we either we are who we thought we were or that we are nothing at all like we thought we were. These are really the only two lessons you teach. You drill us every day. We take the same test every day. We get the answer wrong as if we are always studying the wrong book. We are stubborn, but you, you are the most patient of teachers.