Jose Malvern Weill was an excellent German teacher and helped my family even after I graduated. He split his German Language class period time between German I, II, & III. Since I was the only Level III student, my curriculum was self-paced. Together, we set target goals to cover vocabulary and learning and I also mentored the other students.
One time I came to class knowing I had an exam, after the first couple of questions, I became aware that I had not prepared enough for the exam. I announced to Mr. Weill; "I am not ready" and he immediately closed his book, and collected my paper. No questions, no hesitation and rescheduled.
My holiday card for Mr. Weill was returned to me this year, with the word 'DECEASED' written on it.
The only other time I have implored a special consideration for an exam delay was at SDSU. It was my FINAL EXAM for a Statistics class. I had some pretty serious social issues going on and while I had actually attended most of the lectures, I was not ready for the final exam. I went to class on the day of the exam and asked the teacher before he entered the classroom "Can I please take the final exam with one of your other sections of STATS that meet later in the week?" He told me 'no' but he was willing to give me an appointment for an 'office hours' administration of the final exam. I was extremely relieved and humbled that he gave me that allowance. I don't know how I did on the final exam, but at least I did pass the class. Having that class credit was actually a lynch-pin for the degree I would eventually get later in life. I am no mathematician.
I thank those teachers - they made a difference for my life. I watched the latest Star Wars movie and the best line in the movie, I think, is this: Mistakes are the best teachers. Yes, I am grateful for mistakes. I also hope to prepare my heart for the exuberant joy, the overflowing joyfulness, that it was made to feel and bring to this planet. Christmas is a great time to prepare.
