Finding someone I never knew

Back when I went to the University of California, I studied such things as biology and chemistry.  I wasn't particularly good at them, at least in my college, but I managed to get through.  I graduated thinking I had wasted my time.  Soon I was working as an insurance adjuster and thought I would never see the sciences again.  Over time, I found myself working as an auditor with good pay and benefits.  I got to where I could do the work in my sleep which I gradually came to realize was part of what was causing me to be so bored and depressed.  I knew I needed a change and, when I lost my job in the US, I decided I wanted to do something completely different and found myself teaching English.  I hadn't given science another thought.

Then last year, a former student of mine who had moved to a higher grade approached me.  "Can you teach me science in English?" she asked.  I don't remember why she asked or how she knew I had ever studied such things but I decided to give it a try.

I started researching what she needed to know about.  She said she needed help with photosynthesis.  Oh sure, I thought.  That's easy!  The plants absorb sunlight and turn it into sugar which becomes starch and even wood.  What could be simpler?  Then she showed me her text.  Though it was entirely written in Thai, I could see from the photos and diagrams that I had much to learn.

I knew that one of my professors, a Dr. Calvin, had discovered what was to be called the Calvin Cycle (catchy name, huh?) but it was so new, there hadn't been much teaching of it then.  That had all changed.  I found a website called Khan Academy where I found myself glued to my computer by the hour.  Through his simple, yet meticulous presentations, I learned the mechanics of photosynthesis down to the organic chemistry. Wait!  I died in organic chemistry yet this guy makes it fascinating.  I was hooked.  I couldn't stop watching.  She had also asked me to help with chemistry and from Mr. Khan I learned so much about the periodic table and valence electrons and so on.  I was becoming addicted to science.

Ironically, after all my preparations, she only had time for a few classes.  We tried it again this year, but after two classes, she and the two friends she brought along, said they just didn't have time.  They were tied up with many other outside classes they have to take in order to graduate.  I was heartbroken, though I tried not to show it.

Back when I was in college, most of us had big plans as to what we wanted to do with our degrees yet few of us ever actually used them.  They got up jobs, but rarely in our field of study.  After almost 40 years, I got to step back into my old shoes and live a life I had never had an opportunity for.

This is why I will probably never work in the US again.