Teachers, never do this

by David Safier
Here's part of the history of Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana who Obama just nominated to be assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education.

She was in the lowest reading group in first grade, though the teacher was told by her parents that she could already read in Spanish. But the parents were a couple of Mexican immigrants. What did they know?

A high school counselor told her to forget about going to UCLA.

She graduated from UCLA. Then she went on to get her PhD at USC. Then she was superintendent of Pomona Unified School District. Now she's one step away from working at one of the top posts in the Obama administration.

I forgive the first grade teacher, I guess, but the high school counselor? Never!

A few years ago, I met a young man who was going to UA. He told me his college counselor in his small Texas town told him to forget about going to UA. He should just attend the local community college. He'll be eaten alive out there.

I'm not a violent man, but when the young man told me that, I wanted to reach out across the miles and strangle his counselor. What right did she have telling him what he can't do?

Be honest. Tell him he'll be a thousand miles from home in a campus with thousands of people, and no one will know his name. Tell him his academic training might not be as strong as some other students, so he may have to work twice as hard. But also tell him, if he wants to go to UA, go for it! "And remember, if you don't like it after a year, there's a perfectly fine commmunity college waiting for you here. And if you need someone to talk to, just call the school and ask for me." Then, depending on the student, give him a hug or a firm, respectful handshake.

I sometimes had students tell me they wanted to be doctors who I was reasonably sure could never make it. I said, "You should understand, that's going to take four years of college, followed by years of medical school. It's a long, hard grind. But if that's what you want to do, it's probably the direction you should head. And the great thing is, there are all kinds of things you might decide to do along the way that take less time and schooling, like being a lab tech or a nurse or lots of other jobs where you can care for people. Medicine is a wonderful, noble career, no matter where you end up."

I have no idea what happened to any of those students. For all I know, they were as serious about being doctors as 5 year olds who want to grow up to be firemen. And maybe some of them gave it a try and succeeded at one level or another. But who was I to tell them what they could or couldn't do?