Recognition

I didn't attend the Recognition Luncheon, but my lapel medallion arrived in my campus mailbox a few days ago along with the program that each guest at the luncheon received.

I'm currently finishing my 21st year, but the District always recognizes the recipients during a celebration the spring after their anniversary.

When I dropped out of high school at the end of my sophomore year, honestly Mom could have never been convinced that years later I would be receiving this type of recognition for my career as a faculty member at the local community college. Mom wouldn't be proud, but she would be pleased!

When I was 33, Mom died young at the age of 57. Her death changed the cadence of my life . . . somehow, subtly, I believed that each day was important. Just a couple years after her death, I enrolled in community college and six years and three degrees later, I was in the running for the only job I had wanted since my second semester in college. I was offered a full-time faculty position in the English Department. It was a humbling and a stunning moment and I had lots of people to thank.

I still pinch myself, hardly believing the story. There are also times when I want to jump off a bridge because I have so many essays to grade from students who for the most part could care less about writing, let alone the ability to write well. They have not yet recognized that a person who can communicate effectively in writing owns a powerful tool that is invisible and easy to transport to any occasion and utilize at a moment's notice. Writing is the opportunity to give a person's thoughts a voice; writing well causes the reader to give those voiced thoughts attention; then conversation is possible.

And now, I've got dozens of those student essays to read and grade--the evidence is on yesterday's blip, so I'm "outta here"!

Good night from Southern California.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol