Works like a dog

Today the Women's and Gender Studies Program at the College of Charleston awarded degrees in WGS to three students--the first three students to have a WGS degree from CofC!  That isn't what this post is about--I'll have a separate one about that at some point.  What this post is about:  while I was walking home from the graduation ceremony, I reflected on the students who've come in and out of my life, and the qualities they have that resonate with me.  Some students are sort of naturally, inherently brilliant--ideas make sense to them automatically, they don't have to agonize over revisions or scheduling, they effortlessly produce quotable quips.  Others, like me, work like dogs.

The back story:  I started taking classes in modern and jazz dance when I was in ninth grade.  By the time I got to college, the teachers at the dance studio told me that I was ready to be promoted into the accelerated classes--but to be in accelerated jazz and modern, you have to be taking ballet.  Those of you who know me personally may think to yourselves, "Hmm, Alison doesn't seem like the ballet type."  You would be right.  But I loved jazz and modern, and I wanted to be promoted, so I started taking ballet.

One day, about halfway through my first year in ballet, the teacher stopped the class.  She was a tough woman, equal parts talented and demanding, and she did not take any shit.  I really respected her. "Class," she announced, "I want you all to stop what you're doing and watch Alison Piepmeier.  Alison Piepmeier hasn't taken ballet before this year, but she works like a dog."  I remember glowing with the pleasure of that praise.  I was terrible at ballet, but everything she told me to do, I tried my hardest to do it.  Not one bit of it came naturally, but I worked like a dog.  She was offering me what I immediately recognized as an incredible compliment, and one that I think of often even in my life today.

I think this is still one of my noteworthy characteristics.  When I have a student who has that quality, the willingness to work like a dog, I feel a kind of familiarity, an attachment, and confidence.  Working like a dog won't take care of everything, but I'd argue it's far more reliable than intelligence, physical capacity, or some of the other characteristics we like to celebrate.