A number of years ago, before there was an Academy, I signed up for
a night school wood shop class at San Dieguito. It was great. There were
about 25 students in the class. Several high school students and a number of post
graduates. The teacher allowed us to make whatever we wanted. I designed and
built several tables for our home and for my parents. Other students built cabinets,
desks, cutting boards, etc. It was exciting to watch all of these projects develop.
During the school day, whenever I had time, I would drop in on the shop class and do some
work on my projects. What a difference the day class was. The high school students
spent the period doing almost nothing except talking or trying to sneak out to go down and
talk to friends in other classes.
At first I attributed this to a
lack of appreciation for all the equipment that was available to them. On further
observation it became clear that there was more to the situation. For the most part,
students who took wood shop were the academic underachievers of the school. They had
experienced very little success in the traditional classroom and had gravitated to the
shop because it was a good place to hide out. It seemed that there was an unwritten
code of behavior in the class. If as a group, the students in the class did not
produce anything, then individually they could feel good in knowing that no person was any
more a failure than the rest. Every once in a while one or two students would try to
push forward on their own projects. Within a few minutes a crowd would form around
these students. The observers would distract them by talking to them, jostling them, or in
some cases sabotaging their work. By the end of the period, even the best of
intentions would succumb to the desires of the group. By the next day things would be back
to normal. This is not to say that to say that it was impossible for the average student
to actually get anything done. It was just very difficult. The greatest challenge
was usually not in working with the wood itself.
I relate these experiences to you, not
discourage you from taking wood shop. To the contrary, every student
should take the opportunity to see what wonderful things can be made with a
little imagination, time, and perseverance. On a small scale, this story
is the story of many of our lives. To actually do something is very scary.
It opens us up to the possibility of failure. Many of us settle for very little
rather than find out what we really can be. That is a great shame.
The following quote from the Yizkor service, the
Jewish service of remembrance for the dead, puts it in very simple terms, "The
tragedy is not in dying, - but in not having really lived. The hurt is not in that there
has to be a limit to our days. The hurt is in the terrible waste of the days we
have, while we still have them."
So, go out, be of courage, make
a difference, remember that there are those back here who care and who will be proud of
you even when you try and fail.
