The recent story of Trina Thompson filing a lawsuit against Monroe College for lack of career placement support prompted me to reflect on my own interactions with college students.
I try to watch for the occasional disparity between a student’s self-estimation and their true level of giftedness or skill. Paul writes in Romans 12:3, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment.” I’ve noticed that some of my strongest students (academically) are often the most mindful of their shortcomings. Conversely, some of my academically weaker students come to class with an unreasonably high estimation of their abilities.
I try to impress upon both groups (and those in between) the lesson of Luke 12:48, “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” We see this in the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30) where Jesus heaps the same praise on the man originally entrusted with five talents as the one with two talents. The issue was faithfulness; both were said to have been faithful with “little” (Matt. 25:21, 23).