| Learning Together |
19 May 2003
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The Jamel Family Graduates
In the midst of the news misery of last week, CNN broadcast a very uplifting interview with the Jamel family. The son was graduating from college like a great many young people his age do at this time of the year. What was different in his case were his classmates, or as he calls them, Mom and Dad.
A small college in the Mississippi valley saw parents and child finish their bachelors degrees at the same time, and while the value of a college education as a tool for advancement economically is suspect, the value of learning is the reason for human existence. Not content to sign tuition checks, Mom and Dad Jamel did homework in classes of their own.
Undoubtedly, it was difficult to get a turn on the computer in that house. And financially, it was not easy. But for a couple old enough to have a son in college to decide it was not too late to attend classes themselves is a glorious thing.
As any academic can attest, the mature students are the ones who have the desire to learn, and they can inspire with their determination to get the knowledge they haven't yet acquired. Sometimes, it is the old who keep the young honest.