Just Another Day in Calculus Class

My Calculus professor is a cheery man who likes to chat with his students. Today , right before class, he looked at me and said, "How is your day going?"

I responded, "It's going okay."

"Just okay? It's a beautiful day! What could be troubling you?"

I said to him, "You really want to know?"

Mind you, this is in front of the entire class. This was not a private conversation.

"Sure! What's bothering you?"

So I said, "Okay... Well I'm kind of grieving right now. My mom just died 2 months ago" (at this exact instance, every single person snapped their head to look at me. It was just like a scene in a movie) "so I haven't had a good day in awhile."

Suddenly his face dropped. His eyes actually teared up. "I'm so sorry to hear that. Was she young?"

"She was only 52."

"That's so young... Cancer?"

"Yeah. Brain cancer."

Then there was silence. After about 30 seconds, he said "There have been so many medical breakthroughs, but there's still a long way to go."

And with that, he started his lecture.


At first, my eyes were teary. My bottom lip wouldn't stop shaking. But after a couple minutes, I felt empowered. I was raising my hand more than I ever have. I felt confident and capable. I want to make my mom proud and show everyone that I'm just as strong as she was. I'm her daughter. She taught me how to be strong. My strength comes from her.