The Student Who Can't Catch a Break

Yes, for the record, I'm blogging during class.  But, before you think I'm the world's worst professor, I should add the disclaimer that my students are currently taking a quiz.  With a classroom computer at the front of the room, I'm perfectly positioned to blog and keep my eye on the class at the same time.  I wish it was this easy at home with Landry!!

I've enjoyed getting to know all of my students this semester, or at least the ones who give me glimpses into their lives, but one of the students is particularly intriguing to me.  He's at least 20 years older than me, making him at least 30 years older than the rest of the class.  At the beginning of the semester, he didn't know how to check email, so I spent my first two office hour sessions creating a Yahoo account for him and helping him practice checking for messages.  He always takes the longest on quizzes and tests, exceeding the second-to-last finisher by at least 30 minutes.  At first I thought this student would struggle with the class.  But, he shows up for class every day, studies diligently, and always comes prepared.  Two weeks from the end of the semester, he's slated to make a solid B in the class.  I've learned that he's slow, but he's methodical and accurate at the same time. Yet, even though this student is doing fine, for some reason, he strikes me as the type of person that the world takes complete advantage of.  So, I've found myself attempting to look out for him this semester - to make sure that he at least has a fair shot in my class.

A long introduction to say....this student came up to me before class today to inform me that his car was broken into on Monday, and someone stole his accounting book.  And, there's no doubt in my mind, that it was really stolen.  The textbook costs more than the class tuition, and there's a great market for gently used books here on campus.  He was telling me about the theft, but it also seemed like he was looking to me for advice.  I had no idea what to tell him, except to recommend that he go to the library and borrow the sole copy on reserve for two-hour stretches.  I'd love to be able to buy a replacement book for him, but that would eat up half of my paycheck!  I even contemplated loaning him my copy, but there's no way I can part with it for the rest of the semester. 

There's really not a point to this blog post, except to offer up the general musing, that this student reminds me that we live in a world where some people can't seem to ever catch a break, and I wish that wasn't the case!