Mike Parker: My Thanksgiving spirit continues
This column will be a bit different from my normal ones – sort of a cross between tell-all and expression of gratitude.
I retired from teaching in June 2011. Frankly, sometimes I miss teaching more than I can put into words. As I looked over my Facebook “friends,” more than half of my contacts are students I taught at Farmville Central High School. Now, I want to make clear that I never accepted a Facebook “friend” request until the student was no longer in any of my classes. Most of the time, I wouldn’t accept the request until the student graduated high school.
During my last seven years of teaching, I mainly taught juniors and sophomores – with a heavy emphasis on sophomores. In the typical year, of the roughly 150 to 160 writing test scores for the entire 10th-grade class, 130 of those scores were from my students.
One of the first things I explained to the 10th graders entering my sophomore – or English II – class was the meaning of “sophomore.” “Sophomore” comes from two Greek words: “sophia” and “moros.” “Sophia” is the Greek word for “wise” or “wisdom.” “Moros,” as you have probably guessed, is the word from which we get our word “moron.” “Moros” in Greek means “fool.” Taken together, a “sophomore” is a “wise fool.”
I usually asked my students how a person could be a wise fool. If I waited a bit and allowed different students to venture guesses, usually someone would say something like, “A wise fool is someone who thinks they know more than they do.”
Mortimer Adler wrote in “How to Read a Book”:
“There have always been literate ignoramuses, who have read too widely, and not well. The Greeks had a name for such a mixture of learning and folly which might be applied to the bookish but poorly read of all ages. They are all ‘sophomores.’”
I do not limit the term “sophomore” to bookish students. In my experience, many people think they know much more than they do and qualify for the title. Most sophomores are wise in their own eyes, no matter how little they truly know.
And this foundation brings me to my point. You have no idea how many times I secretly prayed, “Dear Lord, please do not allow this student to breed.” As I looked over many students in my sophomore classes, I could not imagine most of them having sense enough to care for and rear a child.
But I was wrong. If my Farmville Central Facebook “friends” are any indication, these sophomoric young people grew up, got an education and training, found jobs, and married. Next came the pregnancies – the series of photos of “baby bumps” as the child within developed, the gender-reveal parties, and the images of their newborns.
I have seen photos of their kids turning one, hitting the terrible twos and terrifying threes, and starting school. They have shared photos of kids engaged in sporting events – or family vacation photos.
I have been part of their attempts to deal with sicknesses or injuries – and prayed for their children and them. I have watched them overcome the pain. I have seen their faith grow as they came to trust the Lord and realize a power greater than them rules our affairs.
They have grown up into authentic and caring adults. Why did I ever doubt them? An adage says that we all must climb to the top of “Fool’s Hill,” and a 14-year-old sophomore is climbing that hill until they must face with the realities of life and begin the journey downhill into adulthood.
I am so grateful I could be a part of their lives. I hope they understand how genuinely proud I am of the adults and parents they have become.
Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
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