It never ceases to lift me up when I come across random acts of kindness — to have it reaffirmed that there are still a lot of good people who care out in the world. Particularly in these days of nonstop crazy and disturbing news. So I wanted to share a simple, concrete example.
Cait has many professors who have gone above and beyond the call of duty; who value building relationships with and really take the time to get to know their students outside of the classroom.
Cait emailed me an exchange with one of her professors that’s a perfect example of this. But first, a little background. Like most young adults her age, Cait still has no certainty about what career direction she wants to pursue. To most adults who spend any amount of time with Cait, that answer quickly becomes evident.
Expressing her lack of clarity at a job fair to this professor, his answer to her told me that he totally “gets” her, and is committed to doing what he can to help switch on the light.
Secondarily, he has made it known that he is a stickler for good writing. As in “AP Style” good writing. Cait is a great written-word storyteller. Really. A great storyteller. Coming from two parents who make their livings as writers, that’s probably not surprising. But she is not a great “AP Style” writer. And he slammed her for this on a recent paper.
In the middle of all of this, they have been exchanging and reading each other’s favorite books. (I’ve shared one of Cait’s all time favorites here.)
All that by way of explaining the “my-friend-the-enemy” phrase.
Ok, enough prelude:
On 10/4/2017 11:41 AM, Caitlin wrote:Much needed spontaneous life advice from my-friend-the-enemy Dr. [Make-up-a-name] (My advisor who told me my future is writ large, and also my professor who hates commas).
From: [Make-up-a-name], Michael
Sent: Tuesday, October 3, 2017 2:41 PM
To: Caitlin
Subject: Thought you’d appreciate these wordsIn the end, only three things matter: how much you love, how gently you live, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.
(Often incorrectly attributed to Buddha, the quote comes from Jack Kornfield’s Buddha’s Little Instruction Book.)
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