I took this about 5 minutes ago. And while I could have chosen from a vast array of Halloween costumes for the kids, assorted food, house decorations, furniture refinishes, piñatas in the shape of Indiana Jones, Barney and ice cream cones, countless of school projects, attractive gift wrappings, paintings, drawings, and other shit galore, I picked this because I need to be reminded that even in tiny ways, my academic work can make a difference in someone's life.
This casual email came from a 'buzzin' twenty something college student when I was a teaching assistant at a local university four years ago. He also happens to be one of the most brilliant and gifted human beings I have ever met in a class, and to receive a note of acknowledgement from him like this made my day then, and made my day today when I came about it amidst the junk on my desk.
I don't know where he is, nor if he ever went around the world as he intended to upon graduation. All I know is that today, nearly four years after writing this little note, he made me re-evaluate the slow pace of my current proposal writing. I need to speed things up and just drop the nagging insecurities and shortcomings that have plagued me for the last year and a half. Maybe, just maybe, I do have something to offer another student that comes along. I know this is all hyper-cheesy, but it is also a very emotional point for me given the stagnation of my writing over the last year.
Anyway, it is what it is.
