This professor went above and beyond to help a single mom in his class
Being a single mother can be incredibly difficult. Mothering a child all by yourself while still worrying about bills, jobs, and (possibly even) school is a massive challenge, and there are some days when you get caught between multiple priorities. One professor in Nashville totally understood these struggles, and went out of his way to show compassion to a single mother in his class.
Amanda Osbon, who studies at DeVry’s Keller Graduate School of Management in Nashville, Tennessee, had something come up that left her with no choice but to take her 2-year-old son, Xzavier, with her to class yesterday. Naturally, 2-year-olds don’t generally enjoy sitting still and quiet for several hours, and Xzavier stood up in the middle of class and walked over to the professor, Joel Bunkowske, as he was teaching. Xzavier wanted the professor to pick him up — absolutely precious, but of course a bit of an unexpected disruption in the middle of class.
Amanda told News 2 that the situation was embarrassing at first . . . until Professor Bunkowske picked up Xzavier and kept on teaching without even missing a beat, then mentioned to the class that everyone has their struggles. “[He was] amazing, patient, and kind,” Amanda told News 2.
“Most of us in the class are parents, so everyone was very understanding that he was there,” she continued.
Also, we want to remind you that this is not the first time an awesome professor has held a baby in class to help out a student. Back in May, we reported on professor Sydney Engelberg who held a baby in footie PJs while he taught; the baby’s mom was one of Professor Engelberg’s students. The baby was crying so the prof scooped him up; as anyone who’s ever been around babies knows, sometimes babies just want to be held by someone who is in a standing position.
Also as anyone who’s ever been around babies knows, they don’t always want to be held by strangers. Which means that Xzavier must have picked up on the wonderful qualities of Professor Bunkowske and decided, right then and there, that he was a cool dude who could be trusted. And Xzavier was right! Stories like this are so, so wonderful. As Professor Bunkowske says, everyone struggles — and all we need to do is treat others with compassion and understanding to make the world a better place. <3
Why that photo of a professor holding a baby has gone completely viral
11 everyday acts of kindness that will make a stranger’s whole day
[Image via Twitter]
