On making your hands sweat...

It's a very strange thing to me that I could ever possibly make someone nervous.

Even in my work, where I currently have a fancy dancy title, I go out of my way to make the students I work with more comfortable. My style is more casual with weak attempts at humor from time to time. I even apologized to a student I was interviewing today because I was wearing a suit. I explained these were supposed to be informal chats not meant to intimidate, and that the suit was simply required for my next event. Still, it felt like I'd constructed a barrier I could not break down.

As I checked people in for our event today, a father and son approached who recognized me, though I did not recognize them. I hate that, as I typically have a good memory for at least faces, not to mention the fact that I hate to be on the receiving end of a lack of recognition that I've met someone before.

The father made an effort to talk to me separately about his son's particular interest in the school, how he'd been in love with our school since halfway through my remarks at the open house they attended. I could tell he was sincere and this wasn't about flattery. His son had made a real connection with our institution and I could see the fear in his eyes that his boy may not make it there.

Sometimes it's easy to forget you can have that sort of influence. And then consequently terrifying when you realize you do.

His father is a great guy, and looks a lot like the late Paul Wellstone, one of my favorite US politicians ever, so the family has that going for them.

The son waited to say hello to me after the event. I could tell in the little body language I spotted as I spoke to the girl in line ahead of him that he was really nervous to talk to me. And, poor kid, he basically displayed every bit of awkward behavior you possibly can.

First, he started speaking to me as I was still saying good-bye to the student before him. I think he'd been rehearsing.

Second, he began to drop things. And not even drop things, but shift in such a way that the papers he was holding basically flew towards me and attacked my face. I'm proud to report I caught them before any scarring occurred.

Thirdly, he used awkward phrases. Such as, when the papers went flying at my face he said, "Well, that seals it."

Huh? I get that's funny if he meant he wasn't getting in now. But it's not what he meant. Trust me.

Anyway, he's a sweet kid, and he really just wanted to say how much my remarks meant to him early on and how excited he was to attend AU. But there was nothing particularly natural about our exchange, no matter how hard I tried. It also didn't help that he punched his dad in the stomach with his elbow as a sign to "back off, I'm talking!'. Yikes.

I wish him all the best in the process. He's a sweet kid. He wants our school badly. It will break my heart if we can't make it happen for him.

Everyone thinks I can do whatever I want, admit whoever I want. I'm the boss, right? Well, no. I have a responsibility to my school. I can't admit a kid who won't succeed. And I'm a little nervous about this one. I feel he's a bit like Red Riding Hood. And I feel like we, DC and its environs, may be the big bad wolf. I hope he proves me wrong. I really really do.