bg/ag publishing

agIsh: Average, Median, Mean

I've grown up ordinary and think I'm pretty good at being so. I expect to remain ordinary. But like everyone else, I've hoped to contribute to life somehow, to mean something. How does an ordinary man accomplish this?

Well, at first I thought being a doctor would provide this opportunity. I had it all planned out: I'd wake up every morning, throw on a white coat, drape a stethoscope around my neck, and just go change lives. It'd be so simple yet so fulfilling! Turns out good grades are important for this.

For some odd reason I thought that working in the computer field would get me where I wanted to go ("You have to learn computers!"). I'd used computers all my life and thought I would excel at it and just meet people that way. Somewhere in between the mutex and the customer call queue, I felt like I was on a one way street heading into a cul-de-sac. I was not to make my mark on the world this way.

About seven years passed before the idea of teaching popped into my head...and it made sense. Unlike my associates here, I actually like people. I like helping people in whatever way I can. I like seeing them succeed. I've taught a couple classes now and it's more fun and more fulfilling than I ever expected. The following is from one of my students:

"I want to thank you for a fun six weeks because if it wasn't for you the subject would've been more boring than it already is...(no offense). I learned quite a bit from you these past couple weeks."

To have just one student say 'You helped me understand' makes what I'm going through worth everything. It's a total cliche but you have no idea how true it can be until you're on the receiving end of it. Here I am, an ordinary man, doing what I feel is an extraordinary thing.

nv@ag