Second Chances
As you get to know me through these blogs, you’ll realize I have a couple of “loves”. One of them has prompted this entry and pushed my blog on recently moving to the back burner.
Today is the second round of the PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association) Championship. This year the tournament is being played at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa Oklahoma. The talk after round one was surprisingly not about the world’s number one golfer - Tiger Woods. The media and many die-hard golf fans were buzzing about an almost forgotten soul on tour - John Daly.
“Big John”. “Inconsistent John”. “Troubled John”.
All accurately describe a personality, a golfer, and a man with the innate talent to win two majors, coupled with the physical and emotional turmoil to recently lose his PGA tour card.
Why is any of this relevant to education?
Just as John Daly was finishing up his first round at Southern Hills, I was concluding a meeting with a young man who had applied to Lasell, and subsequently been denied admission. These conversations are never easy to have. My objective was to try and turn a challenging situation into a teachable moment and to help this young man realize his educational journey should not end with the receipt of our thin envelope.
Working with the “millennial” generation now for a few years, I have grown accustom to some of their traits. In general, they’ve been the U.S.’s most important commodity. Protected. Special. Millennial’s are not use to being told “no”.
So I wasn’t surprised that this young adult wanted to appeal the decision. I figured he would just ask. But he didn’t.
Maybe it was the gravity of why the Admission Committee had made the decision we had. Or maybe he had experienced a moment of honest self-assessment sitting in my office. Either way, the results were inspiring.
The young man looked me in the eye and asked, “If my goal is to attend Lasell in the future, what do I need to do now?”
Over the next hour, we developed his plan. We talked about his future, and his options. We wasted no time discussing his past, but focused on his new goals and the path to a second chance at Lasell through the transfer admission process.
After round one of the PGA championship, John Daly who shot a 67 (3 under par), spoke of his round. "I honestly don't know," when asked why he performed so well. As for clearing a series of personal hurdles, all he said was, "Just gotta keep on plugging, keep going."
Its doubtful John Daly will win this weekend’s 89th PGA championship. But, I believe golf fans and educators alike would agree, it’s nice to know second chance guys always have a shot.
Preview my next Blog:
The "art and science" of decision making.