The cheerful day

At the beginning of my 8:00 a.m. class one Monday at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), I cheerfully asked my students how their weekend had been. One young man said that his weekend had not been very good. He’d had his wisdom teeth extracted.

The young man then proceeded to ask me why I always seemed to be so cheerful. His question reminded me of something I'd read somewhere before: “Every morning when you get up, you have a choice about how you want to approach life that day” I said to the young man. “I choose to be cheerful". “Let me give you an example,” I continued.  

The other sixty students in the class ceased their chatter and began to listen to our conversation. “In addition to teaching here, I also teach out at the community college in Henderson, about seventeen miles down the freeway from where I live.

One day a few weeks ago I drove those seventeen miles to Henderson. I exited the freeway and turned onto College Drive. I only had to drive another quarter-mile down the road to the college. But just then my car died. I tried to start it again, but the engine wouldn’t turn over. So I put my flashers on, grabbed my books and marched down the road to the college.

The cheerful day 

“As soon as I got there, I called AAA and asked them to send a tow truck. The secretary in the Provost's office asked me what had happened. ‘This is my lucky day,’ I replied, smiling. “‘Your car breaks down and today is your lucky day?’ She was puzzled. ‘What do you mean?’

“I live seventeen miles from here I replied. ‘My car could have broken down anywhere along the freeway. It didn't. Instead, it broke down in the perfect place off the freeway, within walking distance of here. I'm still able to teach my class and I've been able to arrange for the tow truck to meet me after class.

If my car was meant to break down today, it couldn't have been arranged in a more convenient fashion. “The secretary's eyes opened wide and then she smiled. I smiled back and headed for class”. So I ended my story to the students in my economics class.

I scanned the sixty faces in the lecture hall. Despite the early hour, no one seemed to be asleep. Somehow, my story had touched them or maybe it wasn't the story at all. In fact, it had all started with a student's observation that I was cheerful. A wise man once said, “Who you are speaks louder to me than anything you can say.” I suppose it must be so.

Author: Lee Ryan Miller - story from his book "Teaching Amidst the Neon Palm Trees".

'Curiosity' the Powerful Thing

A woman approached Dr. Louis Agassiz, a distinguished American naturalist, after a lecture he gave in London. She complained that she had never really had a chance to learn because of her lot in life. She and her sister ran a boarding house and she simply didn't have time for anything else. After listening to the woman's story, Dr. Agassiz responded, "Do you say madam, you never had a chance? What do you do?" She replied, "I skin potatoes and chop onions."

He then inquired, "Madam, where do you sit during these interesting but Homely duties?”

"On the bottom step of the kitchen stairs."

"Where do your feet rest?"

"On the glazed brick."

"What is glazed brick?"

"I don't know, sir."

"How long have you been sitting there?"

"Fifteen years."

Dr. Agassiz then handed her his business card saying, "Madam, here is my personal card. Would you kindly write me a letter concerning the nature of a glazed brick?" An odd request indeed especially from someone so highly esteemed in the scientific world. The woman took the request seriously.

She looked up “brick” in the dictionary which stated that it was a piece of baked clay. This definition was far too simple to send to a famous scientist, so she continued her search moving on to the encyclopedia. She visited museums and libraries to obtain more in-depth articles. She even visited a local brickyard. When she felt her studies were complete on the matter, she sat down and wrote Dr. Agassiz a 36-page letter on the subject of glazed brick and tile.

In time, a reply came from Dr. Agassiz in which he informed her that it was the best article he had ever seen on the subject and then said, “I will have it published and pay you for it.” Soon a letter was received by the spinster containing $250 quite a large sum in that day.

Accompanying the payment was another question, "What is under those bricks?" She looked under the bricks and discovered ants. Thus she began an in-depth study of ants. She found there were as many as 2,500 different kinds. In order to understand the ant family she needed to study other subjects as well.

After extensive reading and careful study, she wrote 360 pages on the subject to Dr. Agassiz. This time he published it as a book and sent her a large sum of money which she used to travel and visit all the lands of her dreams.

There is no lack of opportunity, only a lack of curiosity!