Hello everyone:

Today’s blog is appropriate for Thanksgiving weekend. I am thankful for the wonderful students I have. When you teach at three colleges and have a total of ten courses to teach across a four-month span of time like I do, it is easy to get discouraged by students who do not put forth effort.

But then I run into students who are facing unplanned difficulty while trying to keep up with a crazy work, home, and school schedule.  These are folks who let me know when they are confronted with difficulties beyond the normal hassles and challenges of daily life.

One of my students was an older man facing life-threatening heart problems. Another student woke up one morning to find her bedclothes covered with blood. Diagnosis? Advanced breast cancer. Another gal faced the unexpected death of her 30-something hubby in a car crash. They still haven’t figured out exactly what happened, but alcohol and drugs were not an issue and it was about 5 pm when his fatal one-car accident happened.

These people all had one thing in common: they soldiered on in the face of great odds. Two of them ended up having to postpone the completion of their courses, but one of them will actually graduate on time.

I am thankful for the opportunity to help guide my students through their challenges and consider it a privilege to do so.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dr. Sheri