December 7, 2022

Many years ago, when I was a second-year teacher and dorm parent, I stood outside my dormitory, enjoying the quiet and deciding which way to walk. The students had departed for Thanksgiving vacation, and the blue, crystalline emptiness of the day beckoned. For some reason, I looked up at a second-floor window of a student’s room. The shade was down, but I noticed several small shapes against the windowpane. Curious, I went back inside and upstairs to the room. When I raised the shade, I discovered a half dozen pills neatly taped to the glass. His stash. Because the student had pulled the shade before I made the usual pre-vacation inspection, I hadn’t seen them and probably never would have if I hadn’t looked up when I was outdoors.

It never ends, I thought, as I headed to the main building to report my discovery to the dean, who was as much a fixture in his office as his cluttered desk, even during vacation. I dreaded the disciplinary repercussions that would likely sour all the work I had done during the fall term to create a good atmosphere in the dorm, but confronting student behavior was…