Four Years plus BMT and a Wake-up

It is amazing to see the transformation wrought by a few years plus six weeks of basic military training.

I went to a fellow Chief's retirement ceremony a couple of weeks ago. As part of the ritual, the youngest airman in the unit, probably no more than 18 or 19 years old, passed a folded flag to a family member of the retiree. This young man performed his office well; he marched up the aisle with crisp movements wearing a crisp uniform. This young man was high school freshman only four years ago.

I am prone to nostalgia and so it should come as no surprise that I miss the Air Force. Seeing that young man and listening to the conversations of the other young people around me made me long for a time, less than a year ago, when I knew that I would get competence and decorum from everyone I met in the course of my daily business, regardless of age. The few who did not meet these expectations were unpleasant and jarring surprises.

Now I am in a business where roughly 20 percent of my students are working hard and routinely meet or exceed what most adults expect from a socialized human being. As for the rest, I must continually set expectations of competence and decorum and continually address those instances when they fail to meet them.

The members of that 80 percent seem to have a few puzzling misconceptions:

1. If I don't like it or want to do it, it is "stupid" and therefore completely unreasonable for anyone to expect me to think it valuable or worth considering.
   
   
2. The minimum effort required is the maximum effort I will put forth, if you're lucky.
   
   
3. If I am told I don't have to do something, it means I should still get credit for doing it. It does not mean I have the choice to do it and receive credit or not do it and fail.
   
   
4. It is unreasonable to expect me to read what I am given or to listen to directions or to remember what I am told.
   
   
5. It is reasonable for me to ignore other's expectations but unreasonable for anyone else to ignore mine.
   
   
6. It is unreasonable for anyone to expect me to apply the knowledge or skills I am expected to learn.
   
   
7. If I can figure out a way to cheat or manipulate, it is the same as having learned.

Luckily, these misconceptions will be washed out of their systems over the next few years as life's storm begins to sweep them out to sea.

It looks like I'll be stuck in the tidewaters for a while longer, scooping the little urchins off the rocks and back to the safety of the pools.