Kindness Around Every Corner

Lily Tomlin once said, "I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework."

Yesterday, my International Trade professor gave me quite a gift to take home with me: kindness.

I am grappling with an Identity Theft situation, but last night was my International Trade exam.  As a Recovering Perfectionist, I had, of course, studied myself silly and was anxious over the exam.

As Murphy's Law would have it, the ID Theft incident escalated yesterday afternoon; after that, I was a frazzled mess with high blood pressure barely remembering my own name, let alone Ricardian Theory and mercantilism, but I was still determined to pull myself together for the exam.

I am a firm believer in open-ish communication with professors - or bosses - always letting them know of extenuating circumstances.  So, in that spirit, I told the professor what was going on, just in case I did not seem like myself or needed to step outside during the exam. 

I was stunned when - without pause - he graciously offered to postpone an exam for me. In fact, he empathetically convinced me it was my better alternative. Can you imagine? He did not stick to the letter of the syllabus law: "No make-up exams." Nor did he objectify me as simply a student who was in a pickle.

I was in awe.

As I walked out of Aderhold, I was physically moved by such an immediate reaction of kindness and understanding, and I was certainly sent home with more to think about than homework, or Economics, but with an example of how to treat others with thoughtfulness, empathy, kindness and understanding.  (Particularly when in a position of authority or leadership.)

That is the kind of professor I want standing in front of me in a classroom, and, as it turned out, standing behind me, too.