Challenge Day #6
Dr. Dull
As a college freshman, I thought I wanted to be an
accountant. I loved numbers and during
high school I took bookkeeping class. I
never missed a question, not once during the entire course. I loved the double entry method, the ability to
check and balance my accounts, the logic of the process. When I enrolled in my first accounting class,
it was not at all what I expected. We
discussed theoretical models for accounting.
Definitely not my cup of tea. At
the time, I was also enrolled in a general education mathematics class. Big lecture hall, over 100 students and
assigned seats. It was piece of
cake. The student next to me couldn’t
get anything above a C-, so I found myself helping him as we went along. Helping him tapped into my real passion –
helping others learn.
Shortly after, I declared my major in Elementary
Education. One of the first classes I
took was mathematics for elementary teachers.
That’s where I met Dr. Dull. He
quickly saw that I loved math and encouraged me to work in the math lab helping
other elementary education majors pass this basic math class. We were studying
set theory and for many it was like learning a foreign language. I realized
what came easily to me – what just seemed logical wasn’t that easy for others. Dr. Dull encouraged me to minor in
mathematics. He noticed that I had a way
of breaking down complex information into bit size pieces for others to digest.
At the time, there were only four other elementary education majors who were
minoring in mathematics.
I must admit it wasn’t easy taking upper level math classes
never having taken calculus or trigonometry in high school. (I grew up at a time when girls were not
encouraged to take higher level math.) In fact at times I wanted to quit, but
every time I thought about quitting there was Dr. Dull having me help someone
else. Upon graduation, he wrote me one
of the best recommendation letters anyone has ever written for me. At the time,
I was hoping to be an elementary math coordinator.
Dr. Dull showed me that there is always someone out in the
world that struggles with what comes easily to you, just as what you struggle
with comes easily for someone else. He
allowed me to learn a powerful lesson – helping others is really about helping
yourself.
Still today when I find myself struggling, I remember to
stop, look around me and see how I can help someone else. It’s the fastest way out of a pity-party that
I’ve found. I have taken this lesson
with me into the jail, into corporations and into schools. Every time, someone thanks me because they
recognize feeding someone else has filled them up!
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