Anyone that remembers Stephene Webb’s son Nick and his DMS activity before he left for college will appreciate the last paragraph of the Sensors class description. Nick is always welcome to drop back in and teach his class.
Background: The original version of this class was one of my first and has been very popular. Sixteen year old, at the time, Nick Webb attended the class and volunteered to help especially in the lab section. As Nick expanded his knowledge and presentation skills, I encouraged him to take on more and more of the class. It was great to see this young man conduct a class that often included engineers four or more times his age. I celebrated this by giving him the class. He ramped up his parts supply and offered the class a number of times before heading off to UT Austin. I am updating and offering Nick’s class with his generous permission.
Oh, my heart. Brady Pamplin, I swear you opened doors for him. I don’t want to tell a story that is Nick’s to share. Let me say that there are not enough words to express my gratitude. - signed, Nick’s mom
Stephenie - You are entirely too generous with your complements toward me. We have discussed in the past that probably the two biggest factors in a young persons life are their parents and their faith. Otherwise, many factors come together to influence decisions and actions. I did not know that Nick was especially uncomfortable speaking to groups when I asked, “Would you like to present a few slides?” It was a small off-the-cuff comment but it was a tipping point that began to show Nick was he was capable of doing. @heyheymama
I’m glad to see that the class is being offered again! I can’t express how much teaching this class helped me with my speaking skills. Those skills have helped me immeasurably in my career so far and also gave me the confidence to try lots of different things outside my comfort zone:) Thanks @bpamplin for giving me that push!
There was a piece of equipment on the playground I avoided. It was a rectangular pipe frame, I would guess maybe fifteen feet tall with a couple of chain ladders hanging from it.
One day in PE class, we had to climb up and touch the cross bar on top as part of an obstacle course. I would not do it.
The coach had me stay after and tried to talk me up it. I would put my foot on a rung then intentionally let it slip off. “I keep slipping,” I would exclaim. He finally said that if it did not stop, he would slip into the classroom and retrieve “Texas Seat Buster,” his paddle.
With tears in my eyes, I made my way up and back down. He slapped my back and said that he knew that I could do it. I was more afraid of a swat than that ladder.
To this day, I still thank Mr. Malone for curing my fear of heights. He would probably get fired for doing that today.
The further I get through this journey, the more I realize how often major life changing decisions get influenced by small verbal input from what might seem to be the most unlikely sources.
People on bad paths who have heard the right message hundreds of times, but that one person calling them out in the right language at the right time, that makes them realize they need to change.
Children who get the right message at home, but have become in the habit of discounting the message because that’s just mom or dad, who hear the same message just that one more time from some other adult, even one of their parent’s friends, that make them realize that maybe their parents might know what they are talking about on this one topic.
Someone who has been avoiding the changes their doctor has recommended for years, who hopefully finds the reason somewhere to start paying attention before it is too late.
Not everyone gets these little messages that fit them the right way. Most of us could use them in some way or another, that we might, or might not realize. And in this era of social media, I fear these messages reach us less than they used to.
So do be mindful of the good we do in the world by having small impacts like this, even if others laid the groundwork. And at the same time, we should all realize that if such simple things can have such positive outcomes, we should similarly be aware what careless, or needlessly caustic comments can do in this world.