I was just reading an Op Ed piece by David Kirp in the NY Times that talks about how to help students graduate. And, it stirred a thought and a question: where are the people in the ilk of such "thingifying," almost "non-human" programs as STEM and T-PAK. People seem to disappear into thin air. The human condition of "who" is so often ignored in favor of the pedagogical, technological, and informational "what" and "how." Yet, so many students--as well as faculty--are in need of a crucial personal, therapeutic touch. So many students are so ill-equipped for dealing with being wrong and are subsequently penalized when they are. Most academicians are ill-equipped to equip them with this much needed equipment because so many of them are ill-equipped themselves for dealing with being wrong. And, they, too, are subsequently penalized when they are. We all have to learn that being wrong, that failure, doesn't deprive anyone of her or his dignity; that inability at the moment to steer through the maze of life neither strips anyone of her or his worth nor are signs of incompetence; and that nurturing--not callously leaving everyone out in the proverbial cold to fend for themselves--isn't coddling. It all should merely reminds everyone of our humanity. After all, who among us is so infallible so as never to be in need of someone's support, encouragement, care, love, and faith along the way; who among us was never helped by someone who took a personal interest in us; who among us was never in need of someone who believed in us as we struggled to sort out life's challenges; and, who among us would have succeeded had we not received such nurturing helping hands? Who among us is never in need of assistance? I know, having been taken under someone's wing made all the difference to me. That I was not venomously weeded out when I could easily have been is the reason I am who and where I have come to be.
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