Glen surveyed the students in his senior journalism class. It had been a long and challenging year. So many of these students had been with him since their freshman year. He remembered their first days together as if it were yesterday. They could barely put complete sentences together, let alone independently run the school's newspaper. He thought that by the end of their senior year they would be quite proficient in their skills. But for some reason Glad was still waiting - waiting for these seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds to show their full potential.
No one seemed to be able to concentrate on their last issue of the newspaper. Their minds were filled instead with signing their annuals, summer plans, and summer loves. Glen felt as if he were putting this issue together by himself. That's not what he had trained them to do. They had everything they needed to make it in the real world - or did they?
Two years later Glen ritualistically flipped through his morning paper. His eyes fell on the editorial page where a new columnist held the prized spot. He squinted his eyes to be sure he was seeing right. There in front of him was the byline of one of his former students. The title of his column was, "Those Who Give Us Wings." The carefully crafted story was about an old journalism teacher who had given this author his wings.
Be patient. Even a butterfly can't fly until his wings dry.
Prompt: The last time I discovered hidden potential in a student was when . . .
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