My wife had finally done it. It took a good ten years of trying and a critical mistake to make it happen, but it actually did. She had finally broken through the “New Family Member Gathering Meal Block.”
Like many families when they get together, each group brings something different for the meal, so the host does not have to shoulder the entire burden. This practice also allows those bringing a dish to dazzle the others with some delicious contribution and let’s be honest here, receive some praise in return.
My family is not big on accepting new foods at Thanksgiving or Christmas. For instance, at Thanksgiving, we have the same thing year after year—traditional turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, pie, etc. At Christmas, just substitute ham and “Party Potatoes” (also unfortunately known as Funeral Potatoes).
The menu was the same every year, as was the person who supplied the dish. For instance, Diana brought her homemade rolls—which are amazing. But she has brought them for 35-plus years at this point. My Aunt Trish always brought taco salad, which will be an important plot point later in the story.
My wife Jen brought a dish for her first holiday with my family. However, at the end of the meal only a small amount was taken from the bowl— my helping and hers. She tried again with another dish, spending hours researching and coming up with something that her in-laws might like, only to again find the dish mostly uneaten. It seems that no one wanted to waste plate or stomach space on something that was not their traditional favorite.
This went on for about 10 years of trial and error. And then, when all hope was lost, came that magical holiday, as fate took pity on her and lent her a hand.
Aunt Trish had left the taco salad in her refrigerator at home. There would be no holiday salad that year. Except, as luck would have it, Jen brought a salad too, an Asian salad (you know the one with the crunchy ramen noodles and sliced almonds, so good!). The opportunity had arrived, the dawn had broken, and the long night was about to end.
Since hers was the only salad at the meal, my family did something they didn’t like to do at the holidays– try something new – and loved it! My wife then heard the magic words she had waited a decade to hear: “Jen, you should bring this every year.” She was ecstatic and finally joined the family as a full-fledged member of the Holiday Meal Club. Her 10-year quest had ended in unbridled success.
The next year, it was the taco salad that went mostly uneaten while the Asian salad was almost all gone. The following year, there was no taco salad brought at all—an unconditional surrender. The Asian salad had full and complete victory. V-S Day (Victory in Salad) was declared, businesses closed, schools were cancelled so that all could attend a ticker-tape parade in celebration. The Asian salad dominance over taco salad has continued now for 21 years straight.
Ok, I had a little fun writing that section if you couldn’t guess. Aunt Trish was more than happy to stop bringing taco salad, because she also brought baked beans to Christmas, which were always a hit. It was not fair to have two items anyway.
Tradition is great, but trying new things could be just as good—and might even improve things. At Neosho County Community College, while we pride ourselves on traditions such as semester- length face-to-face classes, transfer degrees, and the usual workforce classes, we also look for new opportunities to move forward.
We have 12-week classes, eight-week classes, four-week classes, weekend classes, night classes, classes online, classes over live video conferencing, and classes that combine all the modalities into a hybrid class.
We teach in real-world situations such as students learning in hospitals, but we also have simulators with robots that can “breathe,” turn blue, and even give birth. We have virtual reality headsets for various skill development, but we also have traditional workplace tools and good old paper textbooks. Welding students learn how to stick weld, but also how to program the computer-controlled plasma cutter.
Granted, we have gotten rid of a few old things like slide rules, composition books, and overhead projectors. We don’t have many chalkboards anymore; those have been replaced with whiteboards. Chalk makes a mess, so that tradition is about to be over. It’s the taco salad of higher education.
Even if you haven’t stepped foot on a college campus in decades, you would still recognize much of what we do here, with faculty giving lectures or leading a lab, students studying their textbooks, taking notes, working on lab projects, and completing exams, papers, and assignments.
But we have augmented that with an electronic library that is available 24/7, wherever they are, with an unbelievably vast amount of material available to students. They complete tests online and get nearly instantaneous results. Research papers are, well, not on paper anymore. The computer helps with spelling and grammar so that the student can focus on the message.
NCCC students are learning to use the modern tools of the day that are available to them and that they are going to see in the workplace. Our latest challenge: artificial intelligence. It exists, and there is no putting the genie back in the bottle. So, we need to teach our students the most ethical and effective ways to use it.
We combine traditional education with the new in ever-changing ways. We have long debates about how best to benefit from the blending of tried-and-true methods that date back to Socrates with the powerful new technology that is now part of everyday life. It is an ever-changing landscape, one that requires folks who might have been in education a while (like me!) to constantly learn new things and see how they can benefit our mission. Old and new can work together to have a better educational experience, and a better holiday meal.
Jen was making the grocery list, and I saw ramen noodles added. Thanksgiving and Christmas must be just around the corner. Here’s a suggestion; if you have a new family member coming to your gathering, be sure to try their contribution. It might mean more to them than you think.
On behalf of Neosho County Community College, I wish you and yours the happiest of Thanksgivings!
If you have questions about the college or want Jen’s salad recipe, please contact me at [email protected].
