Hilo Days: A Lesson in Life

It's what school is for, not just lessons in various subjects and academic disciplines, but in life as well. Lessons such as "Don't take kind-hearted people for granted."

In my old website, Hilo Days, I recounted such an incident that happened during my senior year at Hilo High School. Read, and see if you can learn a lesson too.

Cutting Class?

Our zoology/physiology teacher, Mr. James Noda, once turned me in for cutting class.

I didn't actually cut class of course, but he wanted to teach me a lesson. It was during the preparation for the annual senior dance.

I was to be in charge of lights, a rather innocuous job, but an important one none-the-less. No lights, no dance. I never took it seriously until the day of the dance when I discovered we were short about two dozen light bulbs.

So, I had to scramble, appropriate some from my home and my friends' homes, and buy some with no approved budget.

We had a meeting that started during the lunch hour, and ran late. Instead of asking permission from Mr. Noda, I stayed at the meeting that cut into the time I was supposed to be in Mr. Noda's class. So I just never went.

I got a note in my next class to see counselor Mr. Ung Soy Afook (initials "USA") immediately. He called me into his office and showed me a note he had gotten from Mr. Noda. It read: "Call Craig Miyamoto in and scold him for cutting my class!"

Now, this was the only time I ever talked to Mr. Afook, and when I was called to see him, I could only imagine the worst things happening. My ass was grass, right? Wrong.

Mr. Afook said Mr. Noda probably was just hurt that I hadn't consulted him before staying at the late meeting, and that I should just go up to him and apologize for not thinking clearly.

So, I went up to Mr. Noda's class immediately, hat in hand (well, not really, I didn't wear a hat), and apologized for being so stupid. What could he say? He forgave me, for after all, he knew I wanted to be a doctor, and I was one of his favorite students.

It goes without saying that I got an A in his class.