Reply #12: I have an Indian student.

[LWolf]

The daughter of 2 doctors. I'm not sure if she was born here or in India, but she's lived here all her life, and makes 2 or 3 trips to India a year. She speaks 3 languages. She is PROFOUNDLY intellectually gifted; her understanding of concepts goes well beyond most adults I know, and she's only 10. She's also one of the kindest, most compassionate, patient, and tolerant human beings that I've ever met. Not surprisingly, she doesn't have many friends. Everyone admires and respects her, but nobody relates. She gets lonely.

She gets all of that empathy and tolerance from her mother, who is also an incredibly caring woman. A parent who stops by the classroom to see how I'm doing, and give me a hug and thanks on a regular basis. This is my 4th and final year with this young lady, and I'd like to just retire when I send her on in June.

If the average American child came with half of her sensitivity, caring, and appreciation for others, America would be a better place.