I don't even know him......

There's a guy who's 21 that I speak to regularly via instant message on Tigerboard. He went to Oak Park High School and dropped out one year before graduating. He said high school just 'wasn't for him'. He did, to his credit, go ahead and pick up a GED. After heading out into the work force, he quickly realized that he didn't like working jobs that were meant for people who graduated high school only.

At some point, he decided to go to a community college to start furthering his education. He's struggled at times, but it seemed like the 'school's not for me' mindset was creeping into his head. He did managed to finish two years at the community college and earn an associate's degree.

Now, he has just enrolled at MU. I chatted with him via instant message right after he got there. He was obviously very excited to be at the big campus and getting started. But I could tell just from his general comments that he might not be fully focused on what he needed to do.

I contacted him again the other day to see how things were going. He had noted that he had a 1000 word essay that was due the next day in one of his posts on Tigerboard. I sent him a message with the subject line saying, "You better bust your ass and get that paper done." He laughed. He said that the first round of tests didn't go as well as he would have liked and that he was going to have to bear down and get some things done.

He thanked me for telling him to 'bust his ass' and actually mentioned that he appreciated that someone was trying to encourage him to do well. I've always had the impression that he's had a rough home life. I think he was sincere in his thanks. It's nice to know that you can say something in a joking, yet pointed way to someone you don't even know and yet have a positive impact on their life.