Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Today I was recruiting for a business administration class. Recruitment was slow and at the end of the day I telephoned students who were given a conditional offer in May. I telephoned Blaine's mother. She was very interested in him doing my course. Quite often when a student doesn't come back to us in Further Education it means they did really well and are going to continue on at school, complete their A Levels and go to university. I remembered Blaine didn't want to go to university.

When I telephoned, his mum was able to confirm that Blaine had indeed done really well. He had decided to do a course to become an electrician. I could tell his mum was anxious about this. I asked how she felt about this. She really wanted him to do my course and 'doing a trade' was very much out of her comfort zone. I asked if there were any family members who had done a trade and she said no.

This was a worry for her as she wanted the best for Blaine. Her father ran his own business so she had no one who could allay her fears about him doing a trade. In reality I had no further business with her. Her son was not doing my course so I didn't need to continue my dialogue with her. But I did.

I told her I was speaking to her mother-to-mother. I remembered her son was head boy in school. For those of you who aren't familiar with this, this means he is chosen by his peers and his teachers to be the school ambassador. Head boys/girls are in the top age group in school. This is a position of high esteem and shows the student to be a person who is well liked but also of high integrity. I told Blaine's mum he was a very smart guy and to trust his decision. I told her electricians can make a very good living, he'd probably end up with a better salary than me. I told her he would have good job security too and he could even set up his own business. She started to relax and tell me he had said all these things to her too. I also said he had good qualifications and if this didn't work out he would be able to pursue a different career choice the following year.

Blaine's mum needed someone to reassure her, my telephone conversation was really timely. I could tell as she aired her concerns and I supported his decision, she got comfort from me, mother-to-mother. Even though I had telephoned to enroll Blaine on my course, his interests were paramount. She thanked me most profusely and I could tell she was finding peace with her son's decision. At the end of the day we are all just people supporting each other in a loving and informative way. Blaine will be a great electrician; there's more than one way to spark and shine.