"I just want you to know that I hated this class."

Today was the last day of my spring semester. I know, I know; it's barely spring. We forgo spring break at my school in favor of finishing really early, and it's about the best idea in the history of ever. I am so done. Ahhhhh!

On this final day, there was not much to do. Students needed to turn in their last essays. I asked them to check their grades online to make sure everything looked correct; it's much easier to clear up issues face to face than later through email. As one would expect, most students were eager to get out of there. The sun was shining. The atmosphere was filled with the relief that only the last day of the semester can bring. "School's Out for Summer." (Please tell me someone reading this is old enough to remember Alice Cooper and that song.)

I left the room, myself, for a bit. I went to the bathroom and then downstairs to the bookstore to get a snack. When I returned, these four were still sitting there.

"Do you need me?" I queried.

"No. We just can't leave," one girl replied. "It's too hard to say goodbye." They went on to explain that they had spent so many hours sitting right there at those computers, agonizing over their essays, that now they couldn't bring themselves to leave. So they didn't. They stayed another half hour. They each wanted a picture with me, so they took turns taking them on their phones. Nope, you don't get to see those. This was not just a "bad hair day"; it was a "non hair day," as in I got up, sprayed on some dry shampoo, fluffed my hair, and left. Really bad. No, it never once occurred to me that students would want to take pictures. Blah.

As we finished our photo session and they prepared to leave, the boy in the blue shirt said, "I just want you to know that I hated this class. I hated it because it was so hard, and I had to work so much. But I also loved it. I loved it because I learned so much. I am so grateful."

Score!

You see, I have a bit of a reputation at my school. Every student has to take English 101, regardless of his or her major, so the grapevine of discussion among students often includes talk of which ENG 101 instructor to take. A former student once told me how he contributes to such discussions: "If you want an English class where you can just slide by like you always have, not work too hard, but still pass, you probably don't want to take Sister Webster. But if you want to learn, if you want your writing to actually be better at the end of the semester than it was at the start, then she might be the one for you." Ha!

The problem is not enough students fall into that second category. Most consider school, especially their General Education classes, just a series of hoops to jump through. Yeah, they might be willing to work a bit in classes related directly to their major, but Gen Ed requirements, no way! And especially not English. Are you kidding? English is supposed to be easy. Math? Now that might require some effort. They might need to listen to the teacher in order to learn how to do the math problems. But writing? No. They have been writing since they were young children. They already know how to do that just fine.

Except they don't. At least not usually. Writing, good writing, requires work. Hard work. Lots of it. So I am thankful to those students, though they may be a minority, who are willing to put forth the effort to improve. I love to see their growth. I love to see their pride (the good kind of pride!) that accompanies a sense of accomplishment. It makes me happy.

"I want you to know that I really hated this class."

 I don't think I've ever felt more complimented.