In August, he offered Rob a job teaching biology to freshmen and sophomores. “It could be good for a minute,” Rob said, almost resignedly. He and Curtis were sitting on the hood of Curtis’s car, smoking a joint amid the cherry blossom groves of Branch Brook Park. He approached the decision scientifically, reducing it to pros and cons. Pros: it was (barely) a living wage, a place and people he knew well, he would be very good at it, the job would look decent on a résumé, he’d have plenty of time off to travel and figure out his life. Cons: it was (barely) a living wage, the kids would annoy the
...more
The notion and meaning of "potential" runs throughout Rob's story but is really pertinent in this moment. The word is used ubiquitously in schools and is powerful as a motivator, but after a certain point in life it comes to symbolize, by definition, what you haven't accomplished yet. Rob chose to become a high school teacher for a number of reasons. It was not necessarily his calling, but he was skilled at it, invested, and the job itself is a noble one. But because of the potential he'd carried and nurtured throughout childhood, this decision was perceived with a somewhat negative charge. Many of Rob's decisions after college, the good as well as the bad, had this negative charge that Rob struggled with. It speaks to how very important language is: the words we use and the different meanings these words have in different contexts.
Joan and 12 other people liked this
· Flag
Kate
