Bryan Kett - Pitching In

 

Hi. I used to teach high school science in Chicago. And at first, I was really just energized and optimistic about everything. After a few years, I just got so burnt out. I'm not really proud of that, but I was just, I never felt appreciated, no one ever thanked me for anything. I know that's not the point of education, but I was young, I was just running very low. I would buy lab materials for my classes with my own money, and then they would refuse to participate. They'd just say, "This is dumb, we're not doing that." [audience chuckles] I would try to make the curriculum really engaging only for them just to call nucleic acids, nuclei acids, which is pretty clever. [audience laughter] 

 

bI would even host these after-school study sessions that they would ask for in preparation for a test. I would bring snacks and then no one would show up. And then, during the test, kids would raise their hands to ask ridiculous questions. A kid once asked me, this is true, once asked me, "How do you spell DNA?” [audience laughter] And so, I was really just low, right? I knew that I had to get away, I had to recharge. But I didn't have any money to take a trip anywhere, spent it on lab supplies. [audience laughter] I told this to my co-worker, Shelby. And Shelby said, "Why don't you come camping with us this weekend? We're going to a state park in western Wisconsin, free trip." And I said, "I'm in." Time spent in the outdoors, nature, all that, this is going to rejuvenate me. 

 

And Shelby said, "Great, we could use another chaperone." And I thought, “Well, what does that mean, Shelby?” Shelby explained that she was taking the school's ecology club, which she ran, on a weekend-long camping trip, a field trip. And just for reference, the ecology club was comprised of like a dozen very intense teenagers, all of whom wore these-- You've seen them like the airbrushed animal T-shirts at all times, [audience laughter] the pandas and the jaguars. They did this unironically. [audience laughter] Shelby could sense, this wasn't what I had in mind. Shelby gave me a look. It's a look that only Shelby can give, it's a very all-knowing look, and she said, "It'll really make a difference." [audience laughter] And I was about to tell her, "I don't care," but a free trip was too good to pass up, so I said, "Okay, I'll go, but I'm not going to help anyone. I'm going to rejuvenate, this is my time." And she said, "That's fine.” 

 

And so, Friday, I got on a bus with like a dozen kids, many of whom were growing these very thin, wispy mustaches [audience laughter] they were just unaware of. About 10 minutes into the trip, they just started peppering me with questions. They would say, "Do you camp a lot? What kind of tent do you have? Do you like animals? What's your favorite animal? Have you seen any interesting animals lately?" [audience laughter] It was so much that I just said, "I'm sorry, I have to work now," and I just stared out the window [audience laughter] for the next four or five hours, because traffic was horrible. 

 

So, we arrived at the campsite. It's pitch black. I'd say it's like 10:00 PM, and I stick to my plan. I sit in my seat and I watch all these kids gather up their gear to go off the bus and start setting up their tents. They all put on headlamps, because of course, all these kids had headlamps. [audience laughter] I sat on the bus and I just watched them as they were really struggling. I was feeling really good about my decision [audience laughter] until a raindrop just hit the window, and I thought, okay, that's not the best, but this is going to be fine. A few minutes later, there were a few more raindrops, and I thought, okay, still not going to do anything, they should hurry. [audience laughter] 

 

And shortly thereafter, there was a little bit more rain. I looked out and all these kids were just kind of floundering, and I thought like, what am I doing? Like, of course, I should go help, assist however I can. So, I got off the bus, and I just started blindly sprinting from camper to camper, just helping them unfurl tent canvases and drive stakes into the ground and get the frames together. And every time I got a kid's tent set up and they got inside to avoid the rain, to beat the rain, they did so without a "Thank you." [audience laughter] I set up like a dozen tents. Everyone got settled, and everyone was cozy and warm. 

 

And then, I went to the bus, and I got my gear, and I went to the far corner of the campsite. And right when I started setting up mine, the skies just opened up, and it was just torrential. I was in the dark, I couldn't see a thing, and I was just reeling because my hands were so wet and they were so cold, and I couldn't even get the tent frame together, and I just had a bit of a meltdown there by myself. I was so angry. I was angry at Shelby, I was angry at the kids, I was angry at the whole situation, with myself for thinking that this would somehow be restorative at all, because I was cold and I was wet and I was tired, and I was less appreciated than ever. [audience chuckles] 

 

As I was just spinning out there in the corner by myself in the dark, couldn't see a thing, suddenly everything around me became illuminated. I turned around to find a dozen kids standing in the rain, smiling with their headlamps on. [audience chuckles] I was just so taken aback. They all just moved forward, and they all started working together to assemble my tent. I just watched this happen. I looked over at Shelby, and Shelby said, "This was all their idea.” [audience aww] And so, instead of staying warm and dry and everything, they had come to help, just out of the kindness of their hearts. 

 

And that served as such a turning point for me. It served as such an important reminder that it's not important about getting the "Thank you," that's not what matters. What matters is behaving in a way rooted in kindness and in service, regardless of the response, because you don't know how it's going to be received. And so, that weekend, as we hiked and we fished and we cooked and we laughed, we did all that, it was just so restorative. I got a bit of my optimism back. As we were loading up the bus on Sunday, Shelby looked at me and she gave me this look, it's a look that only Shelby can give, maybe you've heard of it, it's an all-knowing look. [audience laughter] And she said, "I told you so." [audience laughter] And I said, "Told me what, Shelby?" And she said, "I told you it would make a difference." And she was absolutely right. Thanks.