We had a couple of basketball games scheduled on Friday and Saturday against Urbana and Bradley-Bourbonnais (BBHS). Our record had stood at 1-2, after losing a couple close ones in the Thanksgiving tournament and making about 30% of our shots (that's bad, folks). Last year this squad won about 6 games, and BBHS had good soph and varsity teams. What were the odds of winning?
Coach Short's a master of making adjustments. And this team turned out to be extremely coachable. Plus, they've shown remarkably good chemistry. The starters share the ball. The bench players cheer, then come in to provide quality minutes to keep everyone else rested.
We made 9 three-pointers and shot 55% from the field against Urbana for the win!
We scored the first 10 points against BBHS and cruised to a 20 point win!
I've said it before and will say it again, this is why I love teaching. Mix it with willing pupils, and you get results. Not necessarily wins, but better people. Successful people.
Speaking of which, I got a new math student this week. She's taking pre-calculus which I'd not tutored before. Fortunately it came back to me almost immediately, and she was really a bright girl. This was one of those situations where she just needed a nudge, to learn a handful of tricks that hadn't been clear to her, and then she broke through. There's nothing quite like seeing a student become increasingly excited as the hour goes on. Confidence! To have it, is to measurably improve your life. To instill it is... deeply gratifying. When your gifts are making a difference, the sun's always shining.
I might have a chance to apply the musical gift publicly for the first time in a while. More to come on that over the next couple of weeks.
What's your reaction when a car coming toward you in the opposite lane decides to do a U-turn, swinging right in front of you and making you slam on the brake?
a) Where's the machine-gun mode on this horn?
b) That was not the best move, friend!
c) Awesome U-ey, dude!
I get impatient about some (let's face it, many) things. But fortunately, inconvenient driving is not one of them. My reaction was (b). I think it just springs from being instantly glad that there's no real danger, and that this person is now moving out of my life forever. Somehow it's easier to forgive and forget with a faceless person?
It reached 50 degrees this weekend! I headed out the door ready to go to the health club and get a bike in, then spring hits me full in the face. Went back inside, got into running gear and did a breezy 3-mile run instead. This is why it's so easy for me to be at peace with God when bad things happen. There are just too many delightful moments like this to remember.
Dona told us about an exciting opportunity that might come to fruition. And with Alabama now officially in the football championship game, things are peachy for the next several weeks.
The NBA lockout is history! Fantasy basketball is on its way.
I am riding a high wave at work right now. The team seems happy, managers have been happy with our progress. It'll change - always does - but I've learned to relish these stretches with gratitude because of it.
Crashed on Sunday for 10 hours of sleep. I'd lost about five pounds during the week due to drinking too little water and it caught up with me. Actually, I think the fact that I've eaten more almonds and vegetables recently has been giving my stomach that filled-up feeling so I'm eating less. Monday morning was terrific though from the sleep.
Within an hour or so, Hidden Blog will pass 30,000 lifetime views. As always, grateful for the chance to serve!
1 comment:
Your posts never cease to amaze me, Joseph. I love your writing about tutoring, and what you get out of giving. Nothing better than knowing that the time and effort you spend can have such a positive effect on someone. It's priceless.
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