CONFIRMED FACILITATOR

I just finished a heart to heart talk with a client I wasn’t even ready to see. I was aware he had checked up on me days before and on hearing he was around again, I felt disturbed. I was busy and I didn’t want to see anyone. I needed all the time I had to concentrate on my work but for a man who opens an outlet to counsel people, I had to undertake the sacrifice of receiving clients.

I asked one of my boys to let him in. I shook hands with him and welcomed him like I expected to see him. He told me that he wanted to see me in person because he heard I owned the computer clinic and I had taught him way back in school. I was all ears now.

He went ahead to say that I did something to him that he has never forgotten. My heart skipped a bit and I silently prayed that what I did wasn’t gonna hurt me now…I was lost in thought when I realized that he was still talking. He continued and mentioned that what I did to him left a positive mark on him. I relaxed my head.

He said I walked into the classroom one day during his national diploma days and I asked him and another female classmate of his to stand up. I asked them to confess to copying from one another and they denied. I then went ahead to tell the whole class that the lady copied from him and both of them would be punished for that. I had written CONFIRMED FACILITATOR on his script. He told me that he never expected a lecturer to detect and even go to the extent of specifying who copied from who. He still had the script till date. He made up his mind from that day onwards to become serious and never flocked with unserious students again.

As he spoke a smile crisscrossed my face. I mentioned the class and the venue and his name (though I missed the spelling). I remembered vividly how they made me feel by denying the results of my investigation. Now many years later, he was here to tell me that he took a cue from that singular event and has become better. He was now in the university and maintains a Grade Point (GP) of 4.26.

Joy welled up within me as I looked into his face. I couldn’t believe that such an act could have spurred a life into becoming better. He encouraged me to continue my mentoring students even above my tutelage and though I confessed to him that I am gradually being discouraged, I yet told him I am glad he said all these because I am encouraged to keep doing what I do.

We discussed about his will to learn programming and defend his present GP which he claimed is just theoretical knowledge. I advised him as I could and told him life would be better if he added work to his zeal. He said he hated programmers who hack other people’s code and wanted to do something about it. He said he desired to be a software consultant.

I was gladder than I could express. There was a soothing feel that I couldn’t bear but convert to gratitude. I never believed in such students and I did what I did because I was me and I have my code of conduct. As much as I wanted them to be better citizens, better than I am, I never put my hope that fruits would be yielded in such a manner. Now I knew I was wrong, totally wrong.

Today I am happy that someone from many years back told a story that I remember and I would do my best to keep doing my best. I am a lecturer but I am more than a class puppet. I am a change agent. I am the needed catalyst in a system that gravitates toward positive and permanent metamorphosis. I am a terror to conventions and status quo.

I am so glad. I am encouraged. I am happy.