While in Hawaii, I ran into a former student...

In an attempt to show me just how small the world is, the "Powers That Be" threw me for a loop last week:

That's me with one of my former students, Cesar, at Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii. I was vacationing there with my family, and he was coincidentally there with his college classmates on a summer trip. We snapped this photo next to Kilauea Volcano, which looks like it's going to blow any minute (the crater glows red at night).

I remember that when I was 16, it was surreal to see my teachers outside of the building and living their lives; whenever I ran into my teachers wearing dress down jeans, or lighting up cigarettes, or buying groceries at the market, I felt a bit like Jane Goodall.

"Look! He's eating!"

"She has a mate! Isn't this incredible?"

A lot of people ask me if it's awkward when today, as a teacher, I see former students outside of the school building. They are particularly curious about the students that I have suspended or disciplined in the past. To their surprise (and mine, I must admit), my interactions, even with former 'problem' students, have been overwhelmingly positive. I suspect it's because the power dynamic is absent; in a real world situation, they don't feel intimidated by my authority, and I don't feel the need to regulate their behavior. Also, the initial shock of seeing one another tends to blot out any hard feelings.

None of this, of course, applies to Cesar. He was one of my best, most memorable students. After this photo was taken, I observed him and his classmates, and I saw him taking notes in a notebook he had with him. He was attentive and engaged, and it made me so proud. To struggle from the Lower East Side of NY all the way to the top of a volcano in Hawaii is a hell of an accomplishment.