Give Me the Hot Dog Kids Every Time. Reflecting On Those That Swim Upstream and in Defiance of What is Predicated For Them. Absolute Joy.

I have been against teaching Honors classes at Fairfield University since I arrived. I went to Binghamton. Shouldn't every kid who comes to college be treated as an honors class kid? I've been reprimanded, however, because a pull to attend college institutions depends on having opportunities for high-achieving students to be in company with others as they complete an undergraduate degree.

Rewind. Fast-forward. Last spring, I was approached about teaching a freshman Honors course and with much finesse, I figured out a way to bring my expertise to the course, but also to fight my demons - again, isn't college because all students have worked towards honorable status?

This semester has been a wonderful experience. For the first time since leaving the K-12, urban classroom in 2007, I'm experiencing students who remind me of the intellectual integrity that I knew as normal and I was lucky enough to teach. The 20 young men and women I have are a throwback to the public school excellence that habitually came my way in Louisville, Kentucky. It's been an absolute joy. 

Last summer, while working with CWP-Fairfield summer programs in the Dolan School of Business (the campus is void of professorial life during the summer, besides a few from Engineering and first-generation programs), I met a family touring the school and walking through DSB. I talked to them (small talk) and went on to work with the K-12 youth and teachers that take part of my program.

It took me a while, but I realize the young man I met in the summer was actually a kid in my Honors program. In his first writing assignment, I thought, "Wow! I feel like I'm back teaching the brilliant kids I was fortunate to teach in Louisville!" It fell like a rebirth. If Honors programs mean I get to finally experience the quality of minds I had at the the Brown School, then I am sold. 

Yesterday, after a day of research talks and curriculum proposals, I ran into the same young man from the summer tour who is in my Honors class and he was dressed as a hot dog. I was two days after Halloween and I wondered, "Why are you dressed in such a way?" and he simply responded, "Because I felt like it was a good day to travel across campus as a hot dog." 

It brought me a sense of rejuvenation of what is possible, especially since wearing a hot dog uniform to learn was the the greatness of my public school teaching experience. That is FAR from what I experience on the regular where I am now.

So, today, I am sold on Honors programs. Bring me the great minds of kids willing to be who they are: brilliant, creative, out-of-the-box, and exceptional. It's been over a decade since I've found such minds and I love that this random encounter was upon me. 

In a world of mediocre...be a hotdog. That's my motto.