One Bite at a Time
Stephen was on campus to register when I first met him.
One summer day when I was heading for the administration building, I heard someone call my name. I 1 around and saw Philip, one of my colleagues standing with another young man. As Philip introduced me to the young man, named Stephen, he reminded him that he would be taking one of my classes, Introduction to Literature. With a somewhat 2 expression, Stephen asked if my class was going to be "hard". Would he be able to pass? I 3 he was concerned about failing before the opening day of classes. We talked about what the class would 4 and I saw Stephen's eyes getting big with fear.
Then I remembered a bit of classical dialog:
Question: "How do you eat an elephant?"
Answer: "One bite at a time."
I told him to 5 his work that way. To do his assignment, all of them, and to get them in on time. I added that most successful students I knew made a timetable of all the assignment so they could plan their workload.
As time went on, I learned more of Stephen's story. He had 6 in middle school. It had taken him longer to finish than most young people. Family members, including his mother, kept reminding him that he was a failure. Now, in the face of their negative-saying he had been admitted into college. He told me that before coming to our campus no one had believed he had much 7 .
Stephen didn't become an "A" student. He didn't make any honor rolls. Still, he managed to pass most of his courses by being in class every day, turning in all of his assignment on time and breaking down his studying into 8 digestible parts. By passing course after course he began to gain a measure of self-respect. He was a great singer and he was on the school's cross-country team.
Every time I saw him on campus, he would brighten up and say, "One bite at a time." Whenever he introduced me to his friends, he would tell them that he was 9 when he was supposed to be failing. His secret, he said, was that he was 10 what I taught him before classes ever started: "Take it one bite at a time."
