The Best Gift Rediscovered

So here I am, a week away from Christmas. I find that the older I get the less excited I get about it. Stores start putting x-mas stuff up almost before Halloween, and radio stations start the music sometimes before Thanksgiving. It is hard to stay excited about x-mas, when it's always here. Similar to to the saying of "How can I miss you when you won't go away!?" to someone you are dating. After my last sad blog post, although definitely my deepest, I have decided to talk about my best x-mas ever.

December, 2007 as I am waiting for my first class of the day to start, I am starting to get a little annoyed. I am always a little extra lenient with my seniors. They are taking a college level class in high school, so I let them in a little past the tardy bell, but today this was ridiculous. There are 4 people sitting in my room. Now I am past annoyed. There are 3 days left before winter break, and I still need to cover linked genes in our genetics section. So I ask the 4 brave ones sitting in my class, "Where is everyone"? as I tap my foot in disgust. They replied the rest were in the bathroom, so I ask if there's a party in the bathroom in complete sarcasim.

At that moment, they all stroll in late. Whatever. At least I can finally get started on my oh-so-exciting-on-the-edge-of-their-seats (not) lecture of the day. My students walk in with two big boxes. This is not uncommon as kids have been exchagning gifts with each other all week. But then, they set them on the desks infront of me. I stare in awe as I went from being super mad, to confusion, to complete ....well, confusion. My kids just replied, "Merry Christmas !!!".

I have gotten presents from my students in the past- oranges fresh from the tree, gift cards, chocolate (always awesome...I know, I know, I'm lucky it wasn't a 'special chocolate'), but this was strange. These boxes were big. So the next thing had to be done- open them. I can't even remember which of the two I opened first. In my hands lay an Xbox 360 and Guitar Hero II package. I was speechless, and at that point I completely broke down. I think I cried for 15 minutes. I had wanted an Xbox for months, but would never break down to actually buy it.

The amazing story isn't just the gift- it is completely the thought. One of the students came up with the idea, collected the funds from other students, and then went the day after Thanksgiving to start standing in line at 4:00am to get it. Even more amazing is that almost 40 teenagers were able to do this, organize it, communicate with each other, and keep this a secret from me and many others. I still am in complete awe that they were able to do that, and that they did it for me- or for anyone else.

The lecture obviously didn't happen that day, and we all took turns playing Xbox. I LOVE my Xbox. I play it after a stressful day at vet school. I play it on the weekends, holidays, and any chance I get. Talk about the gift that truly will last forever. These kids completely amazed me. No, they all didn't get A's; no, I wasn't the eaiest teacher on campus. It was just an amazing year. These kids will always be rememebered no matter how old I get. I'll probably be playing the thing when I'm 80 years old. At least I hope so!





So a few posts ago, I said it was great to be "Lost": to not know what I would do after graduating. Now, after time away from the profession, and with great reflection, I know that I will teach again in some capacity. Those kids made me love it that much. They gave me a great gift, and I have rediscovered my own passion.