How Mr. Rocca led to my participation in a Book challenge

Book and I decided to try to read 24 books this year. It's been a fun project. I just finished number 15 tonight. Pursuing this goal got me thinking about a time when I didn't read much.

Way back in the summer of my eighth-grade year, the first teacher to really believe in me (Mr. Rocca) suggested that I go into the honors program for 9th grade. The only catch was that I would have to read 3 books over the summer and write reports on each of them.

Like a lazy bum, I spent most of my summer dreading the assignment and reading nothing. I tried to finish one book with less than a month before classes for high school would begin. I actually took the easy road and simply called the school and changed my schedule to be in regular English class instead of AP.

Problem solved.

I reveled in those last few weeks of summer... and spent the rest of my high school career regretting the decision and trying to make up for it. In fact, for awhile, I even developed a bit of a complex toward AP.

All because I was too lazy to do what many people do for FUN over the course of an entire summer. The "regular class" allowed me to read some very good books and I really ate those books up. I was determined to make the very most out of the class. After all, education is what you make of it.

Even after college, I still didn't read much for pleasure. I did it occasionally, but not often. Of course, I read all my assignments in college, so to do more was just too repetitive.

During the three years between my graduation from CU and my entrance into law school, I only read a few books, but they were extremely meaningful to me. "A Brave New World," by Aldous Huxley struck me particularly. It's concept of "Soma" inspired me to learn German.

I describe the book as similar to George Orwell's book 1984 if that book were about social interactions as opposed to politics.

Soma was a pill that put people into a catatonic, but satisfied state. The description reminded me of exactly how I must look when I watch TV. Jen had recommended the book, so I told her of a plan to see if I could learn a new language with the time I would otherwise have spent watching television. That became a bit of an obsession, but that's another story. Law school was on the horizon and I needed an excuse to escape distraction, so giving up cable was the obvious choice.

Needless to say, I did very little pleasure reading in law school. My eyeballs would have probably shut down. I like to read, but my eyes aren't made of steel and I was anal about reading my assignments.

For about a year after I experienced the bar exam, I avoided all unnecessary reading. (Seriously, that exam is life-alteratingly crappy... it's effects linger and I will never take it again, so let's say I won't be leaving the state anytime soon).

Once the post-bar shock wore off, my path was finally clear. I now can't read enough. This book challenge has been just that, but it has been fun and definitely worth it (even if I've had to suffer through a few badly-chosen books).

My final thought, though, goes back to Mr. Rocca. I "woke up" school-wise in 8th grade. Partly, that was his doing. When my submission for a writing contest was a tongue-in-cheek critique of the awful school lunch food just to be funny and goof around, he went out of his way to find me.

He found me after school in a common area and said how he had specifically looked for my paper thinking it would be a contender for the prize. He said he wished I had taken it seriously and expressed actual disappointment that I did not.

Mr. Rocca had an Afro hairstyle and was often the butt of jokes as a result. His positive approach and Mr. Rogers sweaters were also fodder for middle-school students. But, Mr. Rocca walked the walk. He also required payment of $0.10 per use of the word "ain't."

When I showed up to school wearing a Bart Simpson T-shirt that said "Underachiever and Proud of it," he pulled me aside. Again, he did not take me to task harshly. He said that he would not require me to turn it inside out as some schools had at the time, but that he was disappointed that I would choose to identify myself that way. My protests were heard, but he simply stated that I had a choice about which direction to take and that choices set a direction.

In all honesty, I was actually just a really big fan of the Simpsons and I still do not believe I had internalized it, but his message struck me. And, I could really see the very genuine concern in his eyes. Both his Simpsons critique and his disappointment regarding my writing assignment remain as vivid as if I were watching him live on television right now.

I am not even sure of his first name anymore (it's been almost 20 years), but I want to thank Mr. Rocca for believing in me, for being honest and for leveling with me.

He is one of many who have helped me put on my boots. Sometimes all it takes is acceptance of an outstretched hand. I wish I could find him today so I can thank him. Time to run a google search.

I was lucky to have had his influence just as I learned how to listen.