3:44 AM
You know what they're going to do, don't you, Faustina?
And you do know what they're going to say?
Yeah, once you consistently spend some time visualizing every day, doing the "all you can with what you've got" dance, and pushing yourself to live the life of your dreams to any degree that you now can, so that the floodgates fly open and you have your dream home, your dream work, and your dream friends.
They're gonna give you that long, cold glance out of the corner of their eyes and say in a long, drawn-out voice, just loud enough for you to hear, "Must... be... nice..."
Just warning you,
The Universe
***** ***** *****
I think it was just as well that I had not yet read that until after the luncheon.
I might have been put off about going - and I would have missed so much!
Erica Cooper (the physicist's current landlady) greeted me with a hug when I entered the Student Union Ballroom. Naturally, I sat at her table, which was up front. Neither of us realized that that table was meant only for women who held jobs in corporations, such as Georgia Ports Authority, Rayonier, Gulfstream... get the picture?
Well, the emcee of the event handed off the microphone for one of the women at our table to introduce herself and say a little something about her work...
then she handed it off to the next one at the table...
and then, two people later, the microphone was in my hand...
"Hi, I'm Faustina Smith. I've been teaching chemistry here on the Armstrong campus for more than twenty years"...
and I passed it along to the last three at our table, who did their thing...
then it was returned to the emcee, Sabrina Hessinger.
We had thought it would continue to the next table.
No, it did not.
Oops!
No worries, the show continued on as if that's what was supposed to happen.
After all, Delana Nivens and Brent Feske weren't hardly going to say anything right there and then about my being on my last hurrah, were they?
Of course not.
For one thing, that would have caused a distracting scene in front of all the highschool students and their teachers.
Secondly, it would have been embarrassing for the emcee and perhaps my tablemates.
Silence was the best option for them.
Much like with theater, the audience didn't need to know about little flubs...
better to allow the show to go on!
And go on it did, for the next two and half hours, beginning with an inspiring address by the keynote speaker, Marsha Tomlin, currently working at Gulfstream.
Honestly, I would have sworn her speech was meant directly for me.
"Success is living your life's purpose and embracing resilience and joy as you do."
This one quote from Valorie Burton struck home for me, as it had for the speaker.
"Success is living your life's purpose..."
Is that not what I have been doing for these past thirty-five years? Sharing my love of chemistry with others, promoting a curiosity about the inner workings of all matter around and within us, encouraging them to walk paths enlightened by science?
(I can see my Uncle Jimmy smiling and nodding his head at that image.)
"... and embracing resilience..."
Change is part of life and change is certainly part of life at this school. First, I changed from being a student and graduate of Armstrong State College to being a faculty member there as I was completing the endless rewrites of my dissertation, back in late 1993. (Or was it 1994? No one seems to be able to tell me!) Henry Harris, the head of the Chemistry Department, there in Solms Hall on Science Drive, took a chance and hired me to teach. He had known me as a student and had faith that I would be a good teacher - and I have certainly tried to be. Whatever classes he needed me to teach, whatever time of day, even the experiment with distance-learning - he asked and I did it. CHM121 and its lab, CHM122 and its lab, CHM201 with no lab other than the demos I performed in class - done, done, and done.
Then the campus became Armstrong Atlantic State University and the format shifted from 10-week quarters to 15-week semesters. The courses became Chem1152 and Chem1152 for the two with labs; the other course was discontinued. The class periods changed in length, requiring a shift in amount of material in each lesson - done and done.
On January 2, 2001, Mama died. I considered taking the semester off, but I had a room full of students depending on my guidance through organic chemistry and biochemistry and metabolism... so I did it.
After that spring semester, I took a break.
I returned in spring of 2004 to the classroom, coteaching a Chem1211 class with Pete Zipperer. That fall, I began again as the night instructor of Chem1151 and Chem1152. I felt like I was home again.
The fall of 2010 brought a new change! A temporary fulltime teaching position in chemistry had opened, just as the hardwood flooring business was taking a dive and my brother was wanting to close his store. I successfully was hired at the university and taught two lectures and four labs for the next three academic years, through spring of 2013, when he position terminated. During those three years, I had the good fortune to be on the Student Success Committee, helping to craft the Hardship Withdrawal option for beleaguered students. I felt very blessed to have worked on that.
Ever since fall of 2013, I've returned to my position as the night instructor of Chem1151 and Chem1152. I periodically have taught an extra lab section along the way. I've also been teaching Chem1151 and Chem1211 lectures and labs at Savannah Technical College, which is certainly a different experience.
Oh, and this university changed its name in 2014 to Armstrong State University.
I just bounced back again and again, through the changes, there for the students, there for the future nurses, and there for the future nuclear medicine technicians.
"...and joy as you do."
Joy there certainly has been! Did I mention the students? Honestly, getting to know them, being invited into their lives, helping them find the heart in chemistry, has been the raison d'éduquer for me. Sure, I may grouse about the grading of lab papers...but I do that task, as it is just one component of an otherwise engaging and pleasurable endeavor.
Thank you, Marsha, for reminding me of all of these experiences, by sharing that inspirational quote with us today.
i thank You, God, that I was here for this message.
I have been through changes before...
I will have to go through changes in the future...
I can adapt and survive the changes.
That almost sounds like a Serenity Prayer...
perhaps it is.
(smile)
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