The Thrill of Connections

 

What do a Diet Coke and a stack of student work to be graded have to do with each other?  They both represent the unbridled thrill of making connections.

Hundreds of Letters

One of the perks of the job, at least for me, is having the opportunity to write letters of recommendation for students.  I have written close to four hundred so far and for everything ranging from jobs to scholarships to university acceptance.  I consider it a perk of the job because it allows me to make a connection between a student and the world beyond the school.  The letter of recommendation allows me to brag a bit on students I have come to know well and in whom I see so many wonderful talents that I cannot help but be excited to introduce them to others in the hope that they, too, will see what I see and help those students on the next part of their journey.

It is always a joy when students tell me how things turned out...whether they were offered the job, received the scholarship, or were accepted into the university of their dreams.  Such was the case recently when one senior came to tell me that she had been accepted into the top university on her list.  I was nearly as excited as she was and added her name, university, and intended major to the list on our dry-erase board.  She then gave me a beautiful, hand-written thank you note and a 20-ounce bottle of Diet Coke, which I saved until this afternoon to enjoy while doing some work.  The drink is delightful, and I will treasure the note, but the biggest thrill was in helping connect this student with the next institution on her educational adventure.

Philosophy and Family

Because I love connections, I experience deep joy every year when my Latin III students read the writings of the ancient Stoic philosopher Seneca.  After translating and discussing selections from his epistles, they must compose a philosophical letter of their own in which they offer advice as he did to his friend Lucilius.  They must also submit a paper in which they respond to various prompts that allow them to reflect on what they have read and explore how this ancient wisdom might be applied in their own lives.

There is no point in my trying to convey just how rich most of the writings of these students are.  This blog post would turn into a small book of its own were I to include every paragraph of well written and well thought reflections by these students, and to select only a few would be nearly impossible.  Should I include the one in which a student shared with her mother Seneca's wisdom about not burdening yourself with work while on vacation, a bit of wisdom her mother accepted and that allowed the family to have a more pleasant time away from home?  Should I include the advice that two students wrote to their own future children, advice based on the writings of a philosopher twenty-one centuries in their past?  It would seem unfair not to include all the ways in which students wrote of their own, significant transformations as they have taken charge of their lives and the challenges in them by applying the thoughts of this famous Stoic.

But Wait! There's More!

If stories like these inspire you and cause you to remember that there can be true joy in teaching, if they help you to see beyond the pressures of the daily classroom, keep an eye out for my book The Golden Waffle Principle:  Finding Meaning in Teaching, which comes out in December.  Watch stevenrperkins.com and follow @stevenrperk on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for lots of great things leading up to its release and great content once it comes out.  Until then, I look forward to seeing you on the shared journey of discovery that is education.