Scenes from an Office

A call from a friend last night. This happened.

***

A professor and his student are walking to a writing seminar at Osborne Cottage. He mentions that her last journal entry was insightful and funny. She talks about how she really connected with Russell Baker. He makes a note to mention most of her essays for the rest of the semester.

***

A student decides that she is going to continue her MA at the same school where she received her BA. Her professor supports her in this decision.

***

The professor takes up art class. The student notes upon it. "I started, and it was really juvenile," he says. "Well, it looks like you're doing better now," she says.

***

The student discovers that teaching is her life. She describes how the sky opened and the sun shined down upon her. The professor says that makes sense to him.

***

A bunch of graduate students are grousing about how all the papers they read are the same papers. The professor says to be compassionate to the freshmen. Each paper for them is their first time.

***

The student takes her students to a local historical house, makes them write papers about it. Makes them read articles about the cosmic calendar and watch Cosmos. The professor notices her assignments, gives her encouragement to continue.

***

In the last spring of the student's career at Iowa State, the professor calls the student in.

Professor: What about this award? Charlie tells me you aren't nominating yourself for this award.
Student: Well, it's not what people do. Nominating themselves for awards.
Professor: Your classmates are nominating themselves. You're a good teacher.
Student: I can't do that. Victorian gentlemen just don't do that kind of thing.
Professor: I'll nominate you then. I'll talk to Charlie.

***

The professor makes sure the student gets a special award for her teaching. She is humbled.

***

Years later, the student sees the professor at an English conference. They catch up. She's teaching high school now. He was hoping she'd have got a job at a local community college she'd interviewed at. They sit in the back of the room and whisper, and she watches him at his own panel, and accept an award for his distinguished service in teaching composition during lunch. She knows that the professor has been a profound influence on her.

***

Just last week I said goodbye to Mr. Keating. The difference here is that even though Robin Williams is gone, I can still pull his gift, Mr. Keating, off my video shelf, and reconnect with the important gift he gave me. Dr. Dick Zbaracki is gone from my life, and I will never be able to reach through the pane of glass that separates my real life from my memories and share with him again.

God bless you and your family, Dr. Zbaracki. I will never forget everything you did for me.

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.