I like praise......

Ok, I admit it. Sometimes I like hearing a little praise and yes, praise will actually make me want to work harder, do better, etc. Not that I completely disregard my job without praise, but it does spur things along. It doesn't take much, really. A sincere thank you, or a quick 'hey, that looks great' are usually all I need to keep me going. But every once in a while, I'm lucky enough to get a moment of pure unsolicited validation that makes me forget every single annoying thing about working in public service and reminds me of why I choose the career that I did.

Yesterday my former place of employment hosted their annual luncheon to recognize Baltimore City public school students who are either already in or about to go to college. It's also an opportunity for the donors and businesses that financially support the organization to actually meet some of the students they're helping with their $$. Since my current job works with some of the students my old organization helps, I decided to go to yesterday's shin-dig to say hello to old colleagues and maybe catch up with a few former students I thought might be there.

It turned out one of my students who graduated from high school in 2003 and is not about to start his junior year of college was the student speaker. I've kept in touch with him since he graduated, but our emails have dwindled to about 2 or 3 times per year. I usually send an email once per semester to 'check in' and see how things are going and it's never a surprise to me that he's always doing well and involved in more activities than I would ever have the energy for. He is also a phenomenal public speaker, so I was happy to see my old employer had picked up on that an invited him to speak in front of such a large audience.

What I didn't know, was that he planned to spend a good portion of his speech speaking directly to me. After asking me to stand up and for the audience to give me a round of applause, he went on to thank me. He said if it hadn't been for me, he knew there was no way he'd be in college, and that while they might not say it to me, he knows a lot of his former classmates feel the same way. He wanted me to know that he looks forward to my emails because they're reminders that should something ever go wrong, I'm still around to help. He talked for a good minute or so, while I fought back tears and began to fiercely miss all of my former students.

That's the kind of recognition that embarrasses the crap out of me, but that deep down, I appreciate more than this student will ever know. This doesn't apply as much to my current job, but in my old job, sometimes things became so draining, it was easy to think of reasons the job just wasn't worth it. But something like what my student said only re-affirms the reasons I worked for my old organization.

Afterwards, I gave him a big hug and told him how proud I am of him. He just has one more year of college and then he graduates. Wow....it's so gratifying to see and hear about all of these students I used to know as high schools seniors making their way through college. It also makes me feel a little old. :)