It’s a Start

Little Shaver is a creative artist.  I am not a teacher who says “NO DOODLING.”  I’m a doodler myself.  It helps me pay attention.  However, I KNOW the difference between paying-attention-doodling and the HUH? kind.  Little Shaver was NOT paying attention and his work/grades were showing it.  So, I contacted Dad.

Now, before I go on with this story, I need to preface it with a little history.  Neither of my folks had a college degree.  My mother was an immigrant to this country (a war refugee after WWII).  My father grew up in small-town Nebraska and apparently got kicked out of two institutions of higher learning for “unacceptable extra-curricular activities.”  (One of the story involves fast cars, girls and some sort of holy wine…I dunno…)  Anyway.  My mom got an Associate’s Degree and taught fifth grade for a few years before she met my dad, got pregnant and became a stay-at-home mom.  My dad started his own business and was successful.  They were both wicked smart and talented.  They were DETERMINED to get me through college, even though neither one of them had done it.  I remember as a kid hearing over and over, “You’re going to college.”  I’m not sure they knew WHY this was important, but they knew it WAS important.  Even if they didn’t know all the ins and outs of academia (they didn’t know what an advanced degree was, or why going to a school other than a state school [cuz that's where I pay my taxes] was important), they knew that EDUCATION MATTERED and they were bound and determined that my siblings and I should be  well educated. 

I will never be able to thank them enough for that. (I should also say that my mom later went on to complete both her bachelor’s AND her master’s degrees after I did.  My father has often mentioned that he should go back and complete a degree.  I truly hope he does.)

All this is to illustrate that even though my parents were not highly educated people, they knew the path to “success” lay in education.  It was a priority to them.  I know things in this life are very complicated, and we stand of the shoulders of many people.  But my parents worked really hard and made sure my brothers and I got a good educational foundation (NOT easy in the case of my brothers, but that’s another story).  This meant that from the earliest days, my mom read to us EVERY day, made sure we did our homework, turned in our forms, fed us, kept us clothed, helped us to complete school projects, got us to school on time, etc., etc.  And later, they pointed us in the right direction to college.  My father often said (while yelling at my badly-behaved [sorry, guys, but you WERE trouble makers!] brothers), “Dagnabit!  You better get your head straight because you will NOT be getting into college with grades like these and you’ll get nowhere in life without college!!!”  (Pretty ironic, considering he had no degree.)

Why did they think this?  Why was education so important to them?  Why did it matter so much that we get that college diploma?  I really don’t know.  But they instilled it in me.

Ok.  Now back to Little Shaver.  He was doodling and NOT paying attention, so I had to call his dad.  (There are some parents I’m hesitant to contact because I don’t know what kind of “punishment” will greet my students…neverthelesss…)  His dad went ballistic.  He started screaming into the phone about how this was “…completely unacceptable behavior and he will pay for it when he gets home…”, “in today’s day and age, a person just can’t get ahead without an education…” and on and on and on.  I was thinking, ok, at least we’re on the same page here.

Then came the kicker.  “By god,” says he, “A kid has GOT to have that high school diploma.  It was hard for me, god knows, but I did it.  It took me til a month shy of my 21st birthday, but by god, I did it and he will too.”

~Sigh~

Doesn’t it seem like we’re worlds apart?  All I could picture in my head was Juno when she says, “WHOA!  DREAM BIG!”  It seems like such a long way to go.  But, at least it’s a start.