After three weeks of summer classes at Northern Kentucky University I've learned a couple of things. I've re-absorbed everything there is to know about mitochondria (for a Bio 100 course), how punnett squares can tell the future and a few anthropologist's names who wrote creatively, analytically and, if it was before 1960, usually with a little bit of racism. The subject material has been interesting, but what I really can't resist learning about are the people who attend the classes. The openness with which the summer students at NKU live is staggering and life-altering. Every person I have talked to, with one simple opening question, is willing to speak about their lives and the lessons they've learned. It's not that they want somebody to just listen, but they want that person to learn and take away something with them. At 19, the youngest one in either of my classes, I can do nothing but listen to my classmates because they are much wiser than I could ever be.
In an Anthropology 100 and Biology 100 class, one would think that mostly 18 to 19 year olds would be learning with me, but instead, the average age is between 23 and 25. Nearly all of these students are parents, soldiers, students attempting to raise their GPA or who are also working full time jobs. At first I judged the people who had received a poor grade in the class the first time they took it, but I have never been more wrong. The students who retake a class are truly the most admirable. They have returned, optionally, to sit through the same lessons, the same tests and the same videos to pay another one thousand dollars and really learn the material.
I had one soldier look at me with disappointed eyes and admit that he hated taking online courses even though it was easier to get an A. However, he was also a single dad with children who he had to stay home with. He would have loved to attend a class every single morning and absorb the material, but he had to go to work to support his small family.
Another soldier looked at me and informed me that, in 2009, when I was in 7th grade, his entire world was flipped upside down. He got in trouble for drinking too much in the military. He freely admitted this with remorse in his eyes. He wanted to try to give advice to me, a girl he had just met. He cared about the decisions I made and wanted me to make safe ones.
There are countless other NKU students who I admire and see every day now. After this summer I don't know if I will see them again, but I will always remember the selflessness with which they shared their downfalls and most importantly, their peaks.
