I had a run-in this week that just made my heart burst with happiness. I mean, I don't even know how to explain this relationship because it's kind of bizarre and mainly in my head and overly sentimental, but here we go.
I firmly believe that the right people are put in our lives exactly when we need them, and I firmly believe that the "right people" can be friends, relationships, mentors, mentees, professors, janitors, front desk clerks, bloggers you've never met, anyone. Second semester of my freshman year, my Physics II recitation TA was one such right person. No matter what older sorority sister had treated me like a nuisance, no matter what professor had no idea I existed, no matter what PL didn't take any time to see I was having trouble adjusting, no matter in what way I was feeling pushed around and insignificant and in the wrong place, my Physics II TA was always steady and comforting and wearing the same cargo pants. And it's not even anything he did out of the ordinary realm of TAing. He was just a superb TA and his patience and no-nonsense encouragement gave me courage. I blogged about it back then. I Facebook friend-ed him late one night because I was telling Madi all about my love of this TA over Skype and she threatened to friend him herself if I didn't do it right then. He accepted the next morning. I waved to him every time I saw him on campus and he eventually remembered my name. We've kept up pleasantries when we've see each other since that semester. And yesterday I saw him once again, wearing the same cargo pants, and he stopped in his path, remembered what I was up to, asked about my plans, and was sincerely interested in where I was going to go from here.
I know it's silly, but my Physics II TA means so much more to me than he will ever know, and having his vote of confidence for my future endeavors was just what I needed.
I firmly believe that the right people are put in our lives exactly when we need them, and I firmly believe that the "right people" can be friends, relationships, mentors, mentees, professors, janitors, front desk clerks, bloggers you've never met, anyone. Second semester of my freshman year, my Physics II recitation TA was one such right person. No matter what older sorority sister had treated me like a nuisance, no matter what professor had no idea I existed, no matter what PL didn't take any time to see I was having trouble adjusting, no matter in what way I was feeling pushed around and insignificant and in the wrong place, my Physics II TA was always steady and comforting and wearing the same cargo pants. And it's not even anything he did out of the ordinary realm of TAing. He was just a superb TA and his patience and no-nonsense encouragement gave me courage. I blogged about it back then. I Facebook friend-ed him late one night because I was telling Madi all about my love of this TA over Skype and she threatened to friend him herself if I didn't do it right then. He accepted the next morning. I waved to him every time I saw him on campus and he eventually remembered my name. We've kept up pleasantries when we've see each other since that semester. And yesterday I saw him once again, wearing the same cargo pants, and he stopped in his path, remembered what I was up to, asked about my plans, and was sincerely interested in where I was going to go from here.
I know it's silly, but my Physics II TA means so much more to me than he will ever know, and having his vote of confidence for my future endeavors was just what I needed.
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