Choices...

Every semester I get a new group of freshman. As the semester goes, I get a little preachy in the "how not to screw up your life department" and some of the students get it, some don't. Saturday night I was at a basketball game... I always sit with the students because they are much more interesting than boring faculty.
As I was climbing up the bleachers I saw a previous male student "A" (one that I liked) talking to a previous female student "K" (one that sooo wasn't my fave person). Being the nosy person that I am, when "A" sat down in front of me I asked what was up with that. He turned around and with a straight face told me how she was the love of his life and that she is carrying his child... needless to say I was floored.
Now... these students are both first generation college students... she works 3 jobs to be able to go to school... he struggled with coming back to MCM because of the cost of school... their parents do not help and I can't imagine either set being excited about this pregnancy... but both of the students were all giddy about it. Being the blunt person I am, I looked at "A" and questioned what he was thinking... why he didn't pay attention to any of my lectures... and he, again with a straight face, looked at me and said "but I love her... and when its love, its love." Seeing that it was too late to change their fate... I asked about school and he again straight faced told me that I had done school with two kids and a husband so he guessed they could do it. HUH? I wanted to go into a rant of how difficult it had been to do school with children, how I wished I had done things differently, and how I had a husband to pay the bills while I was going to school... but instead I decided to save it for another day...

I am an instructor at a school where more than half of the students are first generation college students... I hate to see things like this... I care about my students and I want them to succeed... I want them to learn from my mistakes and do better...