Sometimes We Only Have Each Other
"Business Capstone" was a required course for all the senior business majors at my university. It had a reputation of a tough course, so I was really looking forward to taking it. I hadn't been challenged enough throughout my college career, so by senior year I was yearning for the hard classes.
The professor teaching Business Capstone never made any special connection with me. I didn't think she really noticed me.
I was your typical exhausted college senior, busy with having two jobs, one in the college bookstore by day, one in the school catering facility by night. I was very active on campus, putting together social events and attending meetings. I had an internship. And I had a boyfriend. Along with all that, I was pulling a full course load and trying not to fall off the Dean's List. It took me three years to climb onto it. Long story short, I used class time to catch up on my lost sleep. I didn't stand out in class, but I always did my homework and managed to participate in class discussions once in a while, just enough to get a fair A in the class.
But I noticed her. There were a few great teachers in my life, and she has remained in my fuzzy memory as one of those great teachers.
At that time I couldn't wait to become a great business woman. I couldn't wait to get out into the the world of real business. Everything we talked about in Business Capstone, or the Logistics class, or any of my marketing and business law classes fascinated me to no end. I could not wait to live it. Her teaching and examples inspired me further.
The professor, an accomplished business woman, had us do the typical business case studies and presentations. I very well remember the time I had to do my presentation. I've never felt more confident in my life. I felt like a star. But I was also sure that it was only my ego.
Once the professor herself presented a case study on Ben & Jerry's. She brought sample cartons of ice cream to class and treated everyone. Now I know that it was so teacher-like, so elementary school, and probably no other student thought anything of it - but to me, it was so special. After class I went on-line and found Ben & Jerry's web site. The site had e-cards, a novelty back in those days, so I sent her an anonymous "thank you" for a great class.
In the next class she held up this card that she printed out and asked who sent it. I of course didn't fess up, that would have been embarrassing and would have taken all the "selflessness" out of the deed. She was so very touched. I was happy. So much for selflessness.
Graduation came and went. I was working in the big city, dealing with a whole new life, the loneliness, the disappointments of the business world I so much longed to be a part of. I missed college.
Once I decided to send her a card. I don't remember what spurred me. It may have been something I read about her in our alumni magazine. Though she was a great teacher, but there were other professors who I was much closer with, yet I never sent them cards. That time, I was compelled and I couldn't help myself. I told her how much I loved her class and how much she inspired me.
It was a surprise to receive a letter from her. My card, yet again, really touched her. She said it made her cry - she had been going through a tough period in her life and my card made such a difference in some hard decisions she had to make. To my "you probably don't remember me" she responded that she absolutely remembered me - "the brilliant presenter who occasionally fell asleep in class." At that moment in my life I really needed to hear those exact words.
A little later my old mentor from the university told me that the professor had been going through a tough divorce at the time that I sent her the card.
Ben & Jerry's has been my favorite ice cream for many years (once I got a real job and could afford it). Phat Phish rules.
The professor teaching Business Capstone never made any special connection with me. I didn't think she really noticed me.
I was your typical exhausted college senior, busy with having two jobs, one in the college bookstore by day, one in the school catering facility by night. I was very active on campus, putting together social events and attending meetings. I had an internship. And I had a boyfriend. Along with all that, I was pulling a full course load and trying not to fall off the Dean's List. It took me three years to climb onto it. Long story short, I used class time to catch up on my lost sleep. I didn't stand out in class, but I always did my homework and managed to participate in class discussions once in a while, just enough to get a fair A in the class.
But I noticed her. There were a few great teachers in my life, and she has remained in my fuzzy memory as one of those great teachers.
At that time I couldn't wait to become a great business woman. I couldn't wait to get out into the the world of real business. Everything we talked about in Business Capstone, or the Logistics class, or any of my marketing and business law classes fascinated me to no end. I could not wait to live it. Her teaching and examples inspired me further.
The professor, an accomplished business woman, had us do the typical business case studies and presentations. I very well remember the time I had to do my presentation. I've never felt more confident in my life. I felt like a star. But I was also sure that it was only my ego.
Once the professor herself presented a case study on Ben & Jerry's. She brought sample cartons of ice cream to class and treated everyone. Now I know that it was so teacher-like, so elementary school, and probably no other student thought anything of it - but to me, it was so special. After class I went on-line and found Ben & Jerry's web site. The site had e-cards, a novelty back in those days, so I sent her an anonymous "thank you" for a great class.
In the next class she held up this card that she printed out and asked who sent it. I of course didn't fess up, that would have been embarrassing and would have taken all the "selflessness" out of the deed. She was so very touched. I was happy. So much for selflessness.
Graduation came and went. I was working in the big city, dealing with a whole new life, the loneliness, the disappointments of the business world I so much longed to be a part of. I missed college.
Once I decided to send her a card. I don't remember what spurred me. It may have been something I read about her in our alumni magazine. Though she was a great teacher, but there were other professors who I was much closer with, yet I never sent them cards. That time, I was compelled and I couldn't help myself. I told her how much I loved her class and how much she inspired me.
It was a surprise to receive a letter from her. My card, yet again, really touched her. She said it made her cry - she had been going through a tough period in her life and my card made such a difference in some hard decisions she had to make. To my "you probably don't remember me" she responded that she absolutely remembered me - "the brilliant presenter who occasionally fell asleep in class." At that moment in my life I really needed to hear those exact words.
A little later my old mentor from the university told me that the professor had been going through a tough divorce at the time that I sent her the card.
Ben & Jerry's has been my favorite ice cream for many years (once I got a real job and could afford it). Phat Phish rules.