I was out when I received a call from one of the students at my college. I was wondering why he was contacting me for, only to realize that he needed money for a flight back home to his hometown. With the lockdown from Covid 19, most flights have been canceled and whatever few flights that remained cost an arm, a leg, and one's soul.
To put it in context, the price of a flight to Australia now costs the same as a domestic flight. As such, my student did not have enough money to fly home. When he asked for the cash to pay for the flight, I felt compelled to help.
I Felt That I Did a Good Thing... But
Do you know when you help someone and feel really good about it? It felt great and I went and tell everyone and that was when they broke the news to me.
Apparently, the student has been going around borrowing money from other lecturers and students, he has amassed quite an amount. He was also disciplined by the college board of discipline for stealing money and a computer from his peers.
As such, it was pointed out to me that I was likely scammed by the student.
The Lesson Learned
Have I learned my lesson? Not likely, I don't think I have done anything wrong or stupid. I think it is something that is sort of part of my job. But as much as I want to sit the student down and talk to him, he has unfortunately left.
I had some time to think about it and have realized that while I can't control what has happened, I could decide on how to feel about it. I could be angry that I lost some money, or I could believe that the money went on to help someone who needed it. I could feel stupid about it, or I could decide to feel that I did the kind thing in a problematic situation.
As such, I have decided to just leave it be and perhaps one day if I do meet him again, we can have a good chat about his life choices.
Conclusion
Looking forward, I do wonder if this will make me more skeptical towards the students around me. But after putting some of my thoughts on this post, I can say that I would choose to continue trusting my students. No one likes being scammed or lied to. However, I would like to believe that one day, he would see that the help afforded to people like this student of mine, would help him be a great teacher to the students who will be under his charge.