Week 3

Things are indeed different this season. What I had hoped for, and what appeared to be happening, has not transpired.

It seems as though the energy that was so apparent earlier has gone away, the people who were once thought to be the new blood, have anemia. The ones who are new, are, however, showing promise.

And the ones who were on the event horizon of stellar performance have imploded.

A set of events have been taking place for a while now, and have seemingly reached a point of no return. One student, a student in need of guidance and who was once showing signs of progress, has gone astray. Things have gotten out of hand, his relationship with the mechanical team lead have deteriorated to the point of name-calling on his part. His attitude has become belligerent to his fellow teammates and even to the faculty advisor who was working so hard at making his presence on the team necessary. All that has been cast aside by him, and all came to a head last night. As a result of the verbal outbursts and other examples of disrespect, he has been removed from the team roster.

I am sick to my stomach over this. He was one of the team members most familiar with the shop operations and had the potential of being the team's lead student machinist. Now, he's gone, not only physically, but spiritually. I don't expect any good to come of his future, and would not be surprised if he dropped out of school.

What deeply concerns me is his propensity to uncontrolled behavior. While there had been no indication of physical manifestation, that doesn't mean it won't happen.