Part 5
In which Darrin casually jokes about something good in his life so often that he finally realizes that it is really something special and light begins to dawn.
Okay, so I started writing Parts 3 & 4 and quite frankly they were long, chatty and not all that interesting. I really didn’t set out to write an autobiography, but my tendency toward unbounded narrative was getting out of hand. So I’m going to skip ahead to the point at which some glimmer of understanding began to dawn.
12 years after I left Antioch to pursue a dance career (also known as dropping out of college) I reached a point in my life where I decided to go back to school. I started out taking math classes and when I hit something in my homework I didn’t fully understand I fell back on my childhood strategy regarding math questions. I called my mother.
My Mom was a math major in college and was responsible for most of my math education up to that point. If you’ve never met her she’s a pretty smart cookie (gross understatement) and pretty good at explaining things. This started a pattern which persisted through algebra I & II and trig. Any time I had trouble understanding something or needed help with homework I called Mom and she worked through it with me.
When I moved on to calculus Mom handed me off to my father for tutoring. My Dad has a PhD in math and was a math professor before going to work for NASA. He is also a pretty smart cookie (also a gross understatement). When I was taking chemistry and had questions I called my cousin who was working on her PhD in chemical engineering at the time (there are a lot of smart cookies in my family). Do you see a pattern here?
While I got help from several people during my return to academia my father ended up being the single biggest source of tutoring. He helped me through three semesters of calculus, two semesters of logic, linear algebra, probability, and discrete mathematics. At some point during that I started joking that I was the only person in my classes getting on demand, one on one, PhD level tutoring for the price of a long distance phone call (about 3.5 cents/minute at the time). Haha Haha, pretty funny huh? I don’t remember how long I had been making that “joke” before something clicked in my head.
“Wait, hold on. You mean not everyone's parents are helping them with their college math homework? Wow, I guess I really am lucky to have that going for me.”
I should clarify that when I say tutoring I mean exactly that. Lest you think that getting help with homework is cheating, I can't remember an occasion when any of my family just gave me an answer or hints on a specific problem. No matter how much I might have wanted that at the time (and believe me there were times that I did) I didn't get hints or tips. I got detailed explanations of the underlying principles and theory. My Dad in particular had no interest in helping me complete a given problem if I didn't understand the 'why'.
And there it is. The glimmer of understanding I mentioned. The realization that I am very fortunate to have college educated parents who were willing and able to actively help with my education. That opened the door for other lines of thinking...
"I guess there are a lot of students who's parents never took or don't remember calculus."
"For that matter there are lots of students who's parents never went to college."
"You know, I bet there are plenty of high schools students who's parents can't help with their homework either."
"You know, I bet there are students at every level who's parents would like to help with their homework, but they are too busy supporting their family and can't do both."
There were several other factors that had been percolating around that same time, but educational opportunities and support were the gateway.
Stay tuned for part 6 for the elaboration.
privilege
[priv-uh-lij, priv-lij]
- a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most:
- a special right, immunity, or exemption granted to persons in authority or office to free them from certain obligations or liabilities:
- a grant to an individual, corporation, etc., of a special right or immunity, under certain conditions.
- the principle or condition of enjoying special rights or immunities.
