Give Them A Chance To Surprise You
Last night while watching Major Crimes I heard a great line from Rusty about Buzz: “The more I get to know him the more I get surprised by him.” This jumped out at me because this happens a lot and should remind us how important it is to get to know those around us. I once heard someone say, “Don’t assume a person you don’t know is just like you expect them to be! Give them a chance to surprise you!” This is so important with students. There is so much there we cannot see. We must realize that most groups, even people in “our own group,” are quite heterogeneous, and can be very different in background and beliefs.
This begs us to take care with our assumptions and always test them out. Let people explain and demonstrate who they are and what they think. I’ve often found that “enemies” are actually very similar to me in surprising ways and actually could be “friends.” At the same time “friends” turn out to not be very much like me at all. We must make an effort to get to know everyone better and give them the opportunity to surprise us.
Byron's Babbles 
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