The Semester Approaches…More Learning For Me…Sometimes…Than Teaching…

Since it looks like I will have not one, but two classes at Columbia this fall, I have started the pre-course “Get to Know You” calls and emails with students. It is earlier than usual, but never loses its joy for me. This summer I took a break from the teaching…or I think more of as time teaching me what I need to know as I had in the sumemrs of years past. For six years I taught a summer high school course at Columbia, and followed it up with three years at The School of the New York Times when they launched their summer learning series. It was a glorious grind that kept my summers at bay until the beginning of August each year, but it was a worthwhile grind…

While I miss the experience not the daily work, what I have gained in reconnecting, randomly following and staying closely in touch with these young people has been invaluable, and its what I love most about teaching…the learning from them and seeing where they go.

I easily lose track of who was in what class or which trips we took…three weeks in a summer, and sometimes even during semesters both at Columbia and Fordham with super engaged, sometimes drama filled young people can turn into a blur…but the gratification of being approaches, getting notes or text from, so many of those now fast maturing professionals always leaves me with a sense of wonder that I did not realize at the time.

Last year, outside of Madison Square Garden during the Knicks-Pacers series two young guys came up to me and reminded me they were in one of the classes, and that if it wasn’t for the class they would never have met and stayed friends… how amazing is that?

I recently got a text from a young woman who was from Indiana…and was one of only a few girls at the time in a class of 35…and she told me about how she had just started a job in the front office of an NFL team. She retold her story…she had loved sports, it was one of the few things that she and her dad shared, but she had gotten hurt and could not lay that well any more. Her dad told her about the class in New York and she was really nervous about the travel but she worked to fit in. One thing drove her. Her dad telling her ‘just because you can’t play why can’t YOU be a general manager some day.’ I always tear up when she tells me that story, because we helped her find a purpose.

There is another story of a young guy who had trouble fitting in…quiet and shy…and went on to create a still very vibrant NBA fan account…I saw him being interviewed on TV one day talking about Charles Oakley and he is now married in a profession tied back to sports. There were countless students from abroad who used the guests in the class to build internships and pick colleges and on and on.

What a gift they have given  to just me, but the speakers and professionals who they touched and stayed in touch with over the years.

Now I’m not one to think the impact was profound for everyone. I always offer up my info and would say that the return for the long term is probably ten percent. After all I don’t have the sexy title at the big team any more that may impact a parent and push them to follow up. But for those who do follow up I love seeing where their road goes, and how we can help get there.

My friend Dan Lauria always said the thing he learned most from when he played Vince Lombardi on Broadway was that the thing that drove the Hall of Fame coach was not the wins, it was his days as a teacher. I have always felt the best coaches were the same way…how do a teach and learn from these young people around them, and to this day I wholeheartedly agree.

I can’t remember the names of every young person in every class we have had, but I love seeing and listening to where they have gone and what they took away, the little things and the big ones.

Looking forward to many more chance encounters and best practices from our kids…who are not kids any more. They taught us more outside the classroom than we ever brought them in it.

New semester starts in a few weeks!