If you live in northeast Ohio, you know we’ve been getting schlacked with snow in subartic weather lately. Now, you would think that this type of weather would strongly encouarage to students to stay home, and it does for some of them. Not that our classes aren’t being attended, far from. However, whenever the weather is bad the office gets lambasted by phone calls from students calling off class. This isn’t a complaint. I don’t want ice-storm, road-panckake students anymore than the next guy. What gets me is the crazy students who come no matter what.
Now, I’m not talking about a little bit of flurries that saunter down and melt before they hit the pavement. I mean the big-daddy, holy-moses, God-has-just-let-us-know-that-he’s-tired-of-our-crap-and-refuses-to-take-it-anymore snow storm. The stuff that Eskimos don’t go out in. The question I always ask myself is do you really want to learn English that badly? Now, English is important, but I’m not sure if I’d wager my life to learn it…or at the minimum my car.
It wouldn’t be so bad if any other students showed up. No…they all know to stay home, and I agree with them. I always tell my students to stay home if the roads look dangerous. What’s even crazier is that one of my students walks. Walks? In this temperature? If it was me, English could wait.
I guess the point of this diatribe is just to note how devoted and appreciative many of our students are to the services we provide. They must like what they’re learning. They keep coming back, rain or shine, day after day. Yes, many of our students are exactly like the postal service. And while I might me confounded and unable to understand why some one would walk 2 miles in a snow storm when they can’t see the hand in front of their face, I’m just glad they enjoy class enough to be willing to brave the weather.
Kolter