Blessings uncounted, milestones

"Congratulations, Granddad," said my daughter Dallas Bell, 18 years ago, calling at night to announce the birth of she and Todd's first child...Erin Ann Bell, a milestone of blessings. I got to see her a few months later at their home in Durham, N.C.
Tonight, I'll be able to watch her walk across the stage at Canyon High School, Texas,  in a pre-recorded virtual graduation, another milestone of blessings.
I've bragged before on her and will some more, but just let me say that this wonderful young woman will be attending Texas A&M University this fall, in pre-engineering.

So here is a photo her mother took recently,  one of Granddad babysitting long ago, plus the two sides of her graduation announcement.
So thankful and proud I'm "bustin' my buttons."

December Departures - Old North

"Old North at UCO," 5 by 7 watercolor card

Graduation days are departures as well as beginnings, and this marks the first December in more than two decades that I won't be attending at UCO,  congratulating favorite students receiving their degrees. It's why we teach.
Retirement has been departure, and they so are students, beginning new phases of our lives, leaving behind the iconic Old North, oldest higher education building in Oklahoma, dating from 1893. 

2016

For years I've painted snow scene watercolor cards for several friends on campus, but not this year. However I've photographed it a lot this year, watching its construction, and through the years. 
Old North was often the first thing I saw early in the morning as I arrived on campus, lit by the rising sun, or in the evening, silhouetted by the setting sun. Departures.
But  this year has been important for it as well. After sitting vacant since 2001 because it was unsafe, it reopened this fall, rebuilt inside, and added on to as well, the result of lot s of fundraising and committed administrative leadership. It is once again a showcase of the promise of education, including excellent art and photographs, the latest technology, and classrooms full of students. 
Anybody who has attended UCO in its various name changes through the years probably has stories to tell, because there are literally thousands of people who have had classes inside this former teacher's college--including me.
Here is last year's painting, and some photos I took walking around  campus in May, and some from earlier years. Departures.

(Day 16 of 31 December paintings)

Icon  of education

The new and old, and Chickasaw Plaza

Sunrise 

Sunset

Campus beauty

From UCO archives

From UCO archives

Cleaning out the garage...of history, on this day

Cleaning out the garage--actually sorting through old boxes and files of time gone by brings back memories and mementos--most of them pleasant, some of them with sadness and regrets. 
Items and more you'd forgotten about, and can't exactly be relegated to the garbage can just yet.
Two or more sides to everything--nostalgia and present tense.

So it is that I found my high school graduation "stuff." Then I saw the date. Lots of miles and adventures since then, and with those blessings, also the realization the years have piled up. 
I'm old--that's what these say about 55 years ago in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Memo: to my students, my kids, my grand kids...live today.

Graduation...beginnings, not just endings, and hugs

After the ceremony at UCO...time for family, friends, loved ones, lots of smiles and hugs

Graduations are beginnings, not just endings. This one at UCO was my last, but also a beginning for my students and for myself, avoiding the dreaded "R" word. 
So here are some photos of the people who matter, plus a few from my last class and Vista two weeks ago. And yes, the hugs matter.

Jade Braun, quirky, creative

My students come from many different heritages, beliefs and personalities. Home-schooled, private and public schooled, Christians, Muslims, Caucasian, African-American, Indian, Asian, Malaysian, Canadian, not especially religious, atheists, liberal, conservative, type As, quirky creative rule breakers, young, more mature, veterans, Okies and many states. 
My joy has been in earning the respect of them all. Some I've had in several classes, some only one or two. On graduation day, I get to meet husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, parents, grandparents on graduation. They matter.

Misty Jordan, Christian and smiling

Jake Searock, U.S. Army Afghanistan vet

Megan Prather, who wants to work for AP

Pam Todd, a leader in every class

Mark Zimmerman, friend and colleague before ceremony

Moose Tyler, creative dynamo and colleague

Last class, International Media

Jennifer Byrd, a professional

"Sam"atha Marcus, spunky and serious

Evonne Wong,  Malaysian coffee drinker

The Vista at Hideaway, my treat, and honor

Graduation from @okieprof's seat, with Jennifer Byrd getting diploma

Why I teach...good students and graduation

Laura Wolf and Maryam Ghavidel

What makes a good student? I ask students that in my classes any more, and the range of answers is revealing.  Grades never come up. More on that soon, as I compile the latest batch from Twitter in Journlaism class.
Graduation shows why you teach...good students become more than just ex-students. They are people you trust, who you're glad to see, who you remember for their work ethic, passion and attitude. Here are two of them at graduation last week.

Notes on a graduation note under the door

The small envelope had been slipped under the door of my office when I walked in today. It was addressed to "Dr. Clark." I opened it, to find a note from a graduating student.
Saturday, I'll attend another UCO graduation, watching students march across the stage and have their names read, while parents and families and friends yell and clap. The students will smile, pose for photos, and walk briskly off stage, some holding their diploma covers high. All will be smiling. 

Out of the hundreds in that room, I will know about 50, like the note writer, as former students in my classes over the past four or five years. Most of them I know by name, and for a large portion, I know their personal stories and trials, and their hopes and plans for the future. 
Yes, I'll be wearing my "funny hat," and academic regalia, and the faculty will march in to the gym to "Pomp and circumstance," down the aisle between the already seated students. We'll take our chairs in front of them, and then, after the national anthem and a few introductions and short speeches, they'll file past. Many will catch my eye, and smile. I clap for my students when they do get their degrees, giving thumbs up when they see me.
After graduation, they'll gather out on the lawn, meeting family and friends, and a few will want their photos taken, and I'll meet parents, family, finances or spouses for a few. Then it will be over, but it's not, because many will stay in touch, some becoming friends. A few will graduate to calling me "Terry," while others, even decades later, still call me   "Dr. Clark." 
I get a few cards and presents every year from appreciative students. I don't think they know how much I appreciate them though.  I treasure the time with these students, their energy, their hopes, their futures,  and I'm enriched by the time I spend with them, helping them on their way. 
That's why teaching keeps you young,  even though their youth reminds you how old you are. 
To be a good teacher you have to like students, to see their potential, to allow their individuality, to not give up on them, and to be a demanding encourager. And when you succeed, the rewards are unexpected and treasures, like notes slipped under the door. 

Graduation, again

It's an up mood-down mood time of year for me. Nothing makes me more aware of the passing of time than graduation. I've taken part in 40 or more of these now, and there is such a sense of accomplishment and pride, mixed with a sense of loss.

With Jill Kelsey

The smiles on the faces of the students, the introductions to parents and grandparents, the "Hey, Dr. Clark" greetings. They make me smile. I like clapping for the favorite students as they cross the stage, giving them a thumbs up, and afterwards, shaking their hands, hugging, getting my photo taken.

And then you walk away, take off the robe and funny hat, put it away. Some of the students stay in touch, some become friends, others are vibrant memories, and many become faces and names on the edges of my memory.

In the hall of the Communications Building we put up plaques each year listing all the graduates. I recently went there and started trying to put faces with the names etched in metal. It gets harder and harder, because the department has grown and changed, with more than 100 graduates a year, and my changing duties as well.

With Sherri Ward

But I see my reflection in those plaques, on several levels, and many of the students have become good friends. Thanks to Facebook I've reconnected with more. I'm fortunate in that I almost can't go anywhere in Oklahoma City that I don't run into  former students.

The other change is in myself and my colleagues. This year, colleague Mark Zimmerman, who once was my student, and then employee, took photos of me with Jill Kelsey and Sherri Ward. They're both in the midst of change in their lives, and Jill is retiring. This will be her last graduation. I hired both these people, and they were the first females in the department faculty. They have been excellent teachers, admired and loved by students. For me, they've become more excellent friends.

That's graduation.