Someday, someone might fire you for not doing
what you should have done.
There are some days when a teacher might wonder whether it is worth giving the extra effort if the students are not giving the extra effort. I am lucky–and cursed–that I get to live and see it from both sides on any given day. I log in to your portfolios and I “see” a stream of posts and pictures and thoughts and ramblings that prove that most of you care enough to go the extra mile yourself. Rarely, but sometimes I run into a dead end, a place where you can almost sense the apathy and disregard towards what I feel is real and important and enduring.
I am always stuck as to how to react. I know I can make life difficult for that student; I know I can pull out the sharp sword of the gradebook and punish him for his apathy, or I can let it slide–but the problem with letting anything slide is that we can only slide downhill with any efficiency: sliding uphill takes a good deal of effort.
That begs the question of why we would want to slide down the gnarly hill of life unless we had already reached the pinnacle of success and there was no other way to go. As a writer I know that every writing piece is a step–forwards or backwards up or down the ladder of accomplishment–and it is a long hard slog to the top, but there is no other way. So you can practice apathy, or you can practice action.
You’re either doing it, thinking about it, or ignoring it.
One day you’ll either receive your pay or be fired. Now is the time to practice being a man. Giving a damn is not a switch. It is a way of life, though ultimately it is your life, and you ‘ll either slog up or slide down.
