Legacies...

25 February 2026: Today I was working with Grady, one of my English 102 students, on his essay. It's a profile of Matt, the coach of his mountain biking team. Grady is working out how best to make the point he wants to make: that Matt has impacted so many lives. Coaching, of course, is a kind of teaching. 

And that had me thinking about teaching in general. No need to write it because I've written it so many times before but here it is again: the time I spent today in the classroom and with my students in my office? The best part of the day.

I've been thinking a lot about legacies lately; losing your dad, seeing your best friend lose her partner, and then losing a cousin in three months will do that to you. 

So, too, will a messed up world get you wondering about what difference you can make.

There are so many reasons a career in teaching is a gift, but the clearest reason is how, if you do it even kind of right, you are leaving a legacy. 

Thought about that some more this afternoon when I recognized a former student working at Walgreen's. I just had him for one semester--in English 204--but the very kind (and unprompted) things he said about that class today almost got me teary.

I kept thinking about it all as I moved to the greeting card section to pick up sympathy cards for my aunt, uncle, and cousins. And then I really got teared up, right there in Walgreen's. (Getting emotional at the pharmacy? It's happened a few times before.) 

I am not saying teaching will be my whole legacy someday, but if it's most of it? That's enough.