After watching Dominic trim the Yuzu tree in my cousin’s yard, I heard him express his concern that the tree will likely not bare much fruit because the area in which it was planted does not provide enough light. As Dominic explained, “It is not where you want it to be. It’s where it wants to be.” Dominic’s words provide an explanation for our inability to reach some students even though we care deeply about their success.

While I do my best to encourage the success of all of my students, I have had to accept that not all of them are reachable. While it is true that some students lack basic foundational background to be successful, it is more often the case that certain students choose not to be successful. They have planted themselves in the shade and that is where they want to be.

I remember one student who was so far behind in the class that there was no reasonable way he could complete his final paper. Fortunately, I was able to give him the opportunity to be successful in the class. On the last Thursday of the semester, in conjunction with the Midnight Marathon, I meet with students in the library from 8:00am to 11:59pm.

This student came to the library to see me shortly after 9:00am and we discussed his lack of success. After finding out that he had no plans for the day, I told him that if he was willing to work with me, I would coach him through his paper one step at a time. He welcomed the offer, but needed to go home to get his course materials. He left and never returned.

More recently, a student and her friends became a problem in class: arriving late, using their cell phones, making inappropriate comments. Although her friends stopped coming to class, this student made erratic appearances and seemed to have a spark of interest. Eventually, we had a meeting with the Dean during which we discussed her disruptive behavior. I also offered to meet with her to catch her up in the course; an offer she rejected. After the meeting with Dean, I never saw her again.

In both cases, my offers to provide assistance—assistance that some might rightly argue was unwarranted—were legitimate. Although it would provide more work for me on a very busy day, I truly hoped that the first student would return with his course materials and spend the day working with me. The second student had been so disruptive that I had to ask her to leave class, but I still saw a spark of interest in her that I had not seen in her two friends. And I wanted to fan that spark so that she could be successful. Yet, as Dominic counseled, “It is not about what I want for the student. It is about what the student wants for him or herself.”

My cousin can transplant his Yuzu tree into a more desirable location. But unlike the Yuzu tree, students are sentient beings with free will. We cannot uproot them and force them to make good decisions. We can only prepare the soil.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

Photo Caption: Dominic