y'know, i've commented countless times

[highplainsdem]

17. I did not get much encouragement from my parents. Fortunately, I did get lots of

Last edited Mon Sep 5, 2022, 10:35 AM - Edit history (1)

encouragement from educators, both teachers and admins, including a college dean who told me he wanted me to be his lawyer if I decided to go to law school (I realized later he probably made similar comments to lots of students) while he was weighing in on a disagreement betwen my adviser and me on whether I should be allowed to take 24 hours of classes, including honors classes, in one semester (my adviser, who'd apparently missed the memo on the importance of encouraging kids, lost the argument and actually muttered something about giving me enough rope to hang myself, which made me laugh).

I did feel that my parents could and should have been more encouraging. But both of them had similarly been let down by a lack of parental encouragement, and what I knew of my grandfather suggested the problem went back farther. My parents' marriage was a miserable one, too, which left them with less time and energy to focus on encouraging their kids. They weren't neglectful in most ways. They just weren't encouraging, but we spent as much time as possible away from them anyway.

I think it's wonderful when parents do encourage their kids.

But my own experience taught me that encouragement is something we should ALL offer everyone we're in any position to encourage and help. Not just family and friends. Not just people we're formally expected to help.

We should all pursue our dreams, while at the same time doing what we can to help others. Even the people who haven't helped us, who might have let us down (especially if we have any idea why they weren't able to offer help and encouragement).