I'm still thinking about the experience a month ago, when on a Friday at noon I visited Normandale Community College to attend the science faculty's Student Recognition event. NCC has a huge single lab used by all of the natural science departments, and every lab table was surrounded with students. In many cases, they were accompanied by family members--from infants to grandmas.
There were no prizes; the students gave no speeches; there was no guest speaker. Each of about 10 faculty members in turn identified several students who stood out during spring semester. They stood out for various reasons: for the improvement they'd made over 15 weeks, or for the obstacles they'd overcome, or for the long hours they put in in lab, or for the way they worked with a study group to make sure they got it.
The students got a round of applause, a letter from their instructor, and a light-snack reception afterward. And they all beamed. It wasn't graduation or scholarships. It was just a moment to shine, to hear that they mattered and that at a big school in busy classes, they were persons of distinction.
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