After my walk from the college to the nearby Starbucks, I stopped by the men’s room and ran into a culinary student I didn’t know.
I asked him how his day was going, and he told me it wasn’t going so well. I asked why, and he explained a challenge he was facing with learning a specific baking technique. I could tell it was really weighing on him.
He mentioned that the college was teaching it differently from how he had learned it on YouTube, and he was struggling mentally. I could tell.
I then introduced myself, shared what I teach at the college, and told him a story I often share with my students.
Before attending Stevens Institute of Technology, I took a summer course on the Fortran programming language. I told him how much I struggled and how the course brought me to tears. So much so that I didn’t want to attend college in the fall. I did wind up passing the course with a passing grade.
I also reminded him that I now teach what I once struggled with and how much joy it brings me now. I think I made his day, and I plan to check in with him tomorrow.
He thanked me for sharing my story, and I saw him break into a big smile.
Bruce Elgort 