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What Is an Outstanding Student? · 17 June 2023

What is an outstanding student?
I’d really like to know.

Is it the one who gives a glimpse
Of brilliance now and then?
Is it the one who shines so bright
Then fades and goes quite dim?
Is it the one who does just enough
To earn the coveted grade?
Or is it the one who’s happy with
Whatever has been made?

I think the one who shines each day
Who is steady and is true
The one who works and works and works
To learn the things to do
The one who strives and maybe struggles
To be the best of the best
The one who cares about the learning
Who does not care about the test
The one who risks and takes a chance
Despite not knowing if
Swinging for the fences
Might produce a whiff.

I think the outstanding student
Looks a lot like that.
Somebody who decides to take the risk
Regardless of where it’s at.

Somebody who learns who tries who cares
Somebody who struggles who whiffs who dares
Somebody who strives
Somebody who lives
Somebody who
Is just like you.

What is an outstanding student?
I think everybody knows.

[Note: I wrote this poem for Rachel Krivanek,
the 2023 Outstanding Senior in Engineering and Computer Science
at Cedarcrest High School.]

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The Report Has Been Greatly Exaggerated · 10 June 2023

The report of my demise, I mean my retirement, has been greatly exaggerated.

I know it is not a direct quote, but I like the notion of what Mark Twain supposedly said. And I think it safe to say that any report at this time of my death or retirement has also been greatly exaggerated. I am not retiring as a teacher or coach. (Or writer.)

I heard of my impending retirement at the end of the current school year when a student-athlete asked me about it at track and field practice a few weeks ago. I just laughed and thought nothing of it. Then a couple weeks after that, I saw a former student (who has been in Texas for the past four years), who asked me the same question. “Is it true that you’re retiring at the end of the year?”

Let me assure you dear reader (whether you are real or imaginary) that I am not retiring just yet. The Lord has not told me it is time. Either to retire or to go home to glory. And I am planning to stay put until He tells me otherwise.

The funny thing is that I did not think of the rumor as a real rumor the first time I heard it. But hearing it a second time made me wonder. Where was this rumor coming from? I even wondered out loud where it was coming from. One of my friends said that he wished he had started it, but he had no idea where the notion might have come from, except that perhaps it is because I am old. (What are friends for, if not to keep us humble.) But it got me thinking about where rumors come from anyway.

I have not mentioned retirement to many people. I figure it is at least a few years away. But if somebody had heard me talking about it even in an abstract way, the rumor could have started. I do know that I started teaching C# in my computer programming class so that somebody could come in later and just pick up where I left off. And I had a conversation about that with a different friend of mine (who by the way, has the same first name as my other friend, but definitely not the same thought process). We were talking about how teaching intro students using C# would be a pretty easy thing for somebody new to come in and teach after I had gone, rather retired. The person could even use my book and other resources. But I do not think anybody was around to hear that conversation. Besides, it was over a year ago.

Well, I never figured anything more about where the rumor started. But I do wonder about exaggerated reports. Rumors can run rampant in today’s climate of social media and fake news. In fact, rumors abound on the internet so that it could be anybody who says, “The report of my demise has been greatly exaggerated.”

At any rate.

No matter where the rumor came from, I must insist that it is just a rumor. I am not retiring any time soon. Certainly not this year. Indeed, the report of my demise, rather my retirement, has been greatly exaggerated.

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The Ants Go Marching… · 3 June 2023

Ants can be a nuisance, but even so, you have to admire them. They just keep marching along.

We do not have an ant problem, but we do get them in the house every spring. They come in and try to take over the place, but I just keep squashing them. Ant. Squash. Ant. Squash. A bunch of ants. Squash, squash… Squash. Sorry about that. I had to take time to squash another ant.

The thing about ants is that they are great. As long as they stay outside. Out there, I leave them alone. But when they get in the house, they are fair game. Squash.

When ants get in the house, they seem to like to go along the baseboards. They come in the doorway like it is an open house. Then, they scurry along the baseboards, seemingly out of sight. But I see them. I see movement, then I pounce. Squash. I would love to have a way to just keep them outside all the time, but alas, I do not want to use any poisons or services that use poisons. So I just keep squashing them and trying to get rid of their paths.

That is right. I try to get rid of their paths. Which just means that I try to change the scent so that their paths are obliterated and they do not come marching in to find their food or water. Which just might mean scenting the house a bit. Apparently, vinegar works. But so does mint. Or so I am told.

I have tried vinegar as an ant remedy a time or two, but it is not the nicest thing to smell. But apparently, the smell of mint is an ant deterrent. (Or should that be deter-ANT?) I tried it this time. I rubbed some mint oil on the floors near the baseboards of the house. Especially, by the doors. I am not sure if it will work or not, but the house smells nice. Minty fresh. Not a bad side effect.

The reason I am not sure if the mint worked or not is because I have seen a few ants around the house the day after I tried the remedy. I am hoping that they are just stragglers or those who got lost because their trail got moved or deleted or obliterated or made so unappealing that they are just wandering around aimlessly. Can you imagine that? Ants wandering around aimlessly. That would be something. After all, ants have their mission and they go to it with single-minded determination.

I suppose that is why I admire ants. That single-mindedness. That determination to get the job done. That iron will.

Which is why I admire ants. Even if they are a nuisance. They just keep marching along.