An unscratched itch

I had lunch today with a friend who has spent a lot of years being both a lobbyist at the Capitol and a college teacher.

We had our share of laughs about the characters and rascals who inhabit the world we share, and wonderment at how little the place has changed over the decades. After all the years we have spent here, we still find it fascinating.

But he got far more passionate talking about some of the students who passed through his classrooms over the years - the ones whose minds seemed to have come alive while taking his courses and have kept in touch with him. I identified strongly with what he was saying.

The teaching itch is one I have yet to scratch, and have to admit I come by it naturally - I am the son, brother and father of teachers.

The closest I have come, beyond occasional guest lectures, is teaching and mentoring the interns whom we hire every semester, many of whom have gone on to solid careers in journalism and most of whom did a good job for us. I know it's not like being in a classroom, since it's one-on-one with someone highly motivated, but it gave me a taste of the good side of the job (no discipline problems or lunch-room duty.)

A few years ago, my friend had to make a choice between teaching and lobbying. Lobbying won because the money was so much better, even if the psychic satisfaction is far less. He was wistful about the choice, though.