One person CAN make a world of difference. I know!

I was one of the oldest students in my class. And when I say class, we're talking university. Many of the students were straight out of school. And I was aged 50. Older than some of their fathers!

Worse than that, the degree I'd enrolled in was something to do with Computing. In the humanities areas, there'd probably be quite a few geriatrics but not in IT.

Most of the subjects were interesting to me, but there was this one subject that I did NOT want to do. But I had to. It was compulsory. The subject was Statistics!

Exciting, eh?

Not to me, either. So I kept putting it off.

I should have done the stats unit in my second year, but I kept deferring it. Finally it was the last semester of the degree. I'd passed everything so far, but now there was this wretched stats unit that I absolutely had to do to complete the degree (along with several other units, which I completely forget now).

In the first session of Stats, I participated... stuck my hand up when the lecturer asked questions. So if you got points for starting keenly, I was going to be alright. But by the middle of the second session, I was already slipping behind.

I didn't have a clue what some of the content was about. The kids fresh out of school knew what the lecturer was talking about. I didn't.

I stumbled on through the course, barely passing each assignment.

As the semester rolled on, I spent time with the lecturer in her office, asking her to explain this and that. But it was not sinking in.

I WAS LOST.

When it came to the big assignment at the end of the semester, again I was hopelessly lost. Others had handed their papers in, and some had even got theirs back. But I was still stumbling around trying to make sense of it all.

Then this angel of a fellow sat down with me one day and showed me how he'd worked through each of the questions in the assignment. Somehow he got through to me . And to this day I dont know why his explanations made sense to me. But they did. Maybe he brought it down to my level. Maybe he was good with his grandfather? I don't know.

I didn't copy his work, but through his patient explanations, I finally got it. A handful of fragmented pieces of the statistics puzzle came together for me.

AT LAST, I GOT IT.

Why? Because one kindly young student saw my perplexity and offered his time to help me understand.

In one hour, he made the difference between me failing my mature-age university degree and passing it.

AND MY POINT?

One person really can make a world of difference!

When the opportunity presents itself, will you be that person?

Gary's health posts

Health disclosure: I'm not a medical expert which is why I provide links to source material. My goal is to share information that can enhance the health of our readers (that's you -- and your loved ones).

• Mac & cheese, the awesome comfort food that's both satisfying & brim-full of chemicals
• Sweet & deadly. Which is more toxic, corn syrup or refined sugar?
• The weekend is here & it's barbecue time. Who will be burning the meat?
• Grounding. Woo woo? or Yeah yeah?
• Steemians Are Making These 2 Health Mistakes. Are You? So Easy to Correct. No Cost Either!
• Got Low Energy Levels? Check out the Science of Stable Blood Sugar
• Pycnogenol: Good for athletic performance too (and heart, asthma, osteo)
• CDC reveals: Vaccines contain mercury, aluminum & formaldehyde. Yikes!
• Health Warning. Some Painkillers Can Maim or KILL You! Are There Effective Natural Alternatives to Aspirin?

Gary's Steemit posts

• Resteeming FAQ
• Why Join Steemit? 9 Advantages of Getting in Today!

Gary's other posts

• Swift is giving me 100 digital coins each day. Read here how to sign up & get going while the clock is still ticking!
• She got bitten by a cat. Turns out this is a highly contentious topic!
• My long and winding road to Steemit

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