Nuns have gotten a bad rap. Books have been written about them by many who have been exposed to the Catholic school system.
But our much loved Tim Russert often told the story about his 7th grade teacher who inspired him. Among the many memories of his life which were included in the media this weekend, her name came coming up.
It reminded me of a nun who changed my life.
Sister Paulinus was my English professor in English and Creative Writing when I was a student at Marywood College in Scranton, Pa.
She was a terrifying and legendary character in the college. Barely five feet tall, almost buried by her huge nuns garb, elderly but with three Ph.D.’s, she introduced my first class with this threatening statement.
“Nobody gets an A from me unless you are a candidate for canonization in Rome. Don’t expect it.”
But my first paper for the class made her laugh. The assignment was to write about an interesting experience or person. Most wrote about something kind of like a “What I Did Last Summer” type of blather stuff.
Mine was about my college roommate whose high school boyfriend had written her a mean break up letter.
My paper was about how she responded to him.
She got a huge envelope and went door to door in the dorms and asked every girl for a picture of any old boyfriend anyone had. She collected over 100 photos.
She then mailed all the photos, including his, to her former boyfriend with this note.
“Thank you for your letter. Will you please look through these, pick out your photo, and let me know which one you are.”
All the young women who participated loved the idea. It was copied over and over by many. It was the consummate “Gotcha!” (You are free to borrow the idea if it appeals to you)
Although I was nowhere near canonization, having the record for being “campused” on campus and often being confronted by our House Mother at our dorm with questions like -
“Corinne, don’t you love God?”
Yes, sister.
“Don’t you love Jesus and the Blessed Mother?”
Yes, sister.
“Then, why are you not at Mass every day?”
I’ll do better, Sister.
I didn’t. But Sister Paulinus gave me an A on the paper anyway. And on every paper in several classes from then on.
We became friends. She would even single me out from time to time to take a walk with her. It was on those walks that she was my greatest teacher.
She told me, “You have the potential of becoming a very good writer.”
Then she added, “But you are missing an important ingredient.”
Really? Of course I thought I knew it all in those days.
“In order to be a good writer,” she continued, ” you have to have something to write about. You are lacking in worth while life experience at your age.”
I have thought over those words many times. And she was right. I was never a published writer until I had life experience. I had to wait until I had something to say.
I see that lesson in every book I read, every blog, even every article in the newspaper. The successful ones are based on the author’s lessons in life – sometimes very hard ones. Much study of human behavior. Practical experience.
Sister Paulinus died several years ago but we had stayed in touch. She lived to see my first book published. She was very pleased and proud.
Because the book was based on my life experience. It was not made up.
So, here’s to the nuns who loved us and taught us so much – not the ones with the bad press with the rulers in their hands.
Wherever you are, Sister Paulinus, thank you for being such a great teacher.
I inscribed the copy of the book I sent her with -
Dear Sister Paulinus -
With love and gratitude.
I just want you to know you got an A from me.
Thanks, Tim, for reminding me of this wonderful human being. We are missing you already.
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Hi Corrinne, I think it’s exactly the same ingredient I’m lacking now if I want to write a book. Life experience!
Your journey must be very interesting then.
It’s really great when we have somebody who believe in us!
Thanks for such encouraging message,
Robert
Robert A. Henrus last blog post..What I learn from Kung Fu Panda
Very true. Except perhaps for a few. Like the comic genius PG Wodehouse – any resemblance to reality entirely coincidental. And the few are VERY few.
Evans last blog post..Leave as Soon as You Can
Hi Corrine,
Thanks for sharing the story.
It is really touching.
Looks like I’ll have to gather my experience too.
Raymond Chuas last blog post..A Basic Lesson About Quantum Physics
Dear Robert and Raymond -
You are already accumulating wisdom every day – it does not happen all at once.
We see your progress in your articles!
And we all believe in you.
Yes, you need life experience but passion and imagination too. Great story, Corinne!
Anne-Maries last blog post..It’s all About Me – Part II
Dear Evan -
Thanks for your comment. I liked what you said in your latest article -
“We can all learn from others. It has been of huge benefit to me to have others who can ’see the situation from outside’.”
Actually, I enjoy ALL your articles!
Dear Anne- Marie -
How right you are.
Passion and imagination – these are the sparks that give our life experience meaning and allow us to use it!
Without those, experience is wasted.
Corinne,
Excellent article. I, too, will greatly miss Tim Russert. I still can’t believe he’s gone. He had such a unique way of interviewing his guests, getting down to brass tacks, and asking the tough questions. He never let anyone off the hook either, a quality so lacking in the world today. If a guest didn’t seem to have accountability, he reminded them that as public servants or stars or whatever, they were indeed accountable. He was never mean or arrogant, but always insistent until he got answers to his questions. So many in the media today or arrogant and use that to make them seem tough. Tim was plain tough.
I never attended private school of any kind and I’m not Catholic so I have no experience of nuns. All I know is what I’ve heard and read. Like all groups of people who become stereotyped, we have to remember that within a group, everyone is still an individual and there will be striking individual differences.
I had a similar experience in college with a professor who saw me struggling terribly in her class on comparative anatomy. She pulled me aside one afternoon and asked me why I was trying so hard to stay in her class. I could drop it. I told her I wanted to be a doctor. She made no comment on my proposed vocation. Instead she asked me what classes I was doing well in. At that point it was Organic Chemistry and calculus. I was teaching nearly everyone in comparative anatomy how to pass organic, and I had a solid A with a nearly 100% average. She asked why I didn’t pursue a chemistry degree as my pre-med curriculum. She reminded me you don’t have to have a biology or zoology degree to enter medical school. In fact, a hard science is just as valuable if not more so because of the biochemical nature medicine was/is headed.
After our talk, I dropped her class, met with her a second time for advice on picking a mentor in the chemistry department and changed my major to chemistry. I could have never gotten better advice on choosing an academic direction that matched my passion and skills.
I didn’t go to medical school. I became a chemist and worked in industry for 20 years. Now I teach chemistry, physics, and all high-school math courses as a tutor from the perspective of one experienced in the real world of math and science.
I can’t remember my professor’s name. It was a Czech name and very hard to pronounce. I’ll look it up in the yearbook. I’ll never forget how that single talk changed my life. I’ll also never forget that a Professor with hundreds of students knew me and my performance in her class and cared enough to sit with me and help me choose a better direction in life. She was right. I’m a chemist and mathematician before all else.
I believe that at some point, the right person comes into our lives at a critical time to help us change our direction and put us on the right path.
Debt Free or Bust – Sherris last blog post..Defaulting on Secured vs Unsecured Debts
You were lucky —
You are quite right about writing about life’s experiences. the only A I received in my college English class was about the day I witnessed the death of my dearest friend in N.Y.C. I started it with the beginning of the day, taking the train to NYC and then recounted every event leading up to her collapse and being taken by ambulance to the hospital and then being pronounced dead.
Like everything else in the media Corinne, the nuns who do good stuff (unless they’re Mother Therese) don’t make good stories.
How many nuns worked with Mother Therese. And who knows who they are.
Nuns like every other group in society, include the good, the bad and the ugly.
Karen (karooch from Scraps of mind)s last blog post..Madison Avenue Scrapbooking
Dear Sherri -
Thank you for taking the time to tell us your amazing story. It could be a whole article on your own blog.
This statement sums up the whole story of my life too -
“I believe that at some point, the right person comes into our lives at a critical time to help us change our direction and put us on the right path.”
Let’s hope they keep coming!
Dear June -
I admire that you even wrote that story down. But, I am not surprised you got an A on it.
People connect to truth. They can see right through a phony story.
Thanks for telling us about it. What a tragedy to experience but perhaps someone who read it learned an important lesson.
Maybe that we have to regard every day as precious.
Dear Karen (Karooch)
This is such an important point.
“How many nuns worked with Mother Therese. And who knows who they are.”
So many good people doing good work in the world that we never hear about.
Those nuns are still doing Mother Theresa’s work. We never get any follow up stories on them.”
Dear Grace -
You are right. I was VERY LUCKY!
I am sure that there are many people who guided you to your success.
Angels come in all shapes and forms. They don’t have to be nuns to be “holy!”
I know how you feel. Nobody DARED call me on Sunday when he was on.
Wonder who they will fit in there? Maybe several at first.
Corinne,
I hope they keep coming, too. I still need a kick in the pants in the right direction now and then.
Now that I’m older, I hope I am that person for a few of my students. Some have such unrealistic expectations, and I hope that some of our talks help them come down to earth and look at what they really want. Not their parents, siblings or friends; them.
Debt Free or Bust – Sherris last blog post..June 2008 Debt Report
Dear Sherri -
One day your students will be writing about you in their memoirs.
Keep up the great work. Teachers often have more influence on young people than even their parents. They are not so apt to rebel against a person who is a disinterested (but interested)
party!
thanks for reminding us about learning about life experiences. Godspeed indeed Tim.
Thanks!