Dry Heat

Beyond the Magic in a Bottle

Celebrating a Student-Teacher Relationship

an essay

by Shelley Handley

     Before word processors, white-out was a life-saver during my high school years.  From a small bottle the opaque liquid, delicately applied by a tiny paint-brushed tip, was “magic.” A laborious typewritten assignment could be salvaged from mistakes by a thick, fast-drying fluid.  It was simple.

     For me, it was a wonder solution to a frustrating problem. Instead of having to begin again and perhaps again, I could carefully delete errors, back up and retype.  The invention of liquid paper was superb!  Mostly, though, it was easy and uncomplicated.  That was way back in the year of 1983.   Shorthand was still the rage.

     Fast forward to the year 2015: keyboarding has changed significantly!  In front of me now is a sleek, slender rectangular board with light tapping keys.  And as far as blundering goes, with a few fingers here and there, defective strokes are keenly erased leaving no proof but only perfection.  Utopia, right? 

     Typewriters didn’t involve knowing complex software programs.

     The typewriter, shorthand, and paper and pencil were easy to learn with practice.  Computers on the other hand, can be complicated and daunting, and the process of adapting to living in the digital age often reminds me of dealing with the neighbor’s two Pit Bulls.  A simple wrong could result in the most unwanted results.  Homework can be challenging enough, and I felt overwhelmed by the new way of completing it.

     I assumed my interpersonal strengths, hard-working behavior, and wisdom from age and experience would help me succeed as an adult re-entry college student.   However, as true as that may be, advanced technology has the power to utterly unnerve me just like the two brutes living next door.  Thus, I know, a clumsy folly isn’t as easily or efficiently fixed by some small bottle.

     The “genie” isn’t what anymore, but whom. 

     Lisa Van Every, M.S., Computer Lab Technician, became a huge support for me in the semesters that passed at Paradise Valley Community College.  While I still worked on some assignments at home, I would make time to do the more intricate projects at the computer commons while she was there. 

     When problems occur, experts with years of training can navigate, but the novice is doomed without help.  When stuck, it did not t take long before my hands become folded and my demeanor unfriendly.  Lisa easily mediated the frustration away. 

     On a Power Point, I didn’t know how to develop the specific accuracy in placing pictures.  In a short time, I desired nothing more than to smack the screen while simultaneously saying a few choice words.  I felt that way with the out of control dogs next door who barked for hours and snarled as they tried to climb the fence.  Pounding my neighbor’s front door while shouting upset words wouldn’t have done much good either.  At least, at school I had a flag option on the side of my computer. I didn’t have to wait for help waiving my hand in the air. I could relax beyond a grimacing face of distress as Lisa responded. Without taking charge, she reassuringly led me through the task at hand. 

     While I moved about blindly, she remained amazingly patient.  She asked investigative questions, and the inquiring details produced results. Now, unstuck, her step-by-step words led me along a new way. The tension in my shoulders would ease, my enthusiasm for learning would return, and my enjoyment for creating would enlarge. 

     Without Lisa, I am not sure that I would be embracing this new inventive tool where the proficiency and quality are magnificent.  I still want to cling to my old ways.  I still get upset, agitated when I feel teased by a cruel, withholding hooligan.  However, in troublesome circumstances, I am now able to find my way much sooner due what she taught me.  I feel blessed when someone is kind, supportive, and helpful when I have needed them to be. My life has been improved because of a teacher who made all the difference.

     Lisa is more invaluable than some substance in a bottle. She is more than a “genie” who fixes errors. She is a sincere, special person who continuously cares enough to make the personal difference.  A difference that a book cannot give, and a relationship that a machine cannot provide.

     I asked her, “Why did you chose a degree and career in computers?”

     “I came back to school in my late 20's, and it was extremely difficult to find assistance with my homework.  When I was hired here, I made my “mission” to help students to the best of my ability,” she responded humbly. “It is very gratifying to come in contact with a frustrated student and turn the situation into a positive learning experience.”

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