The Finishers

They call themselves Finishers: A group of Amarillo College students who are changing their worlds, and mine.

It started a year and a half ago. For some time I had been visiting with colleagues about a dream I had to form a student support group—students helping students reach those elusive academic goals.

We talked, analyzed, even planned. But not much happened.

Then, I shared the idea with students. Suddenly, I began to get emails.

Them: Dr. Bellah, I want to be in the group.

Me: What group?

Them: The one you’re starting. You know, to help us reach our dreams.

So on a January afternoon in 2011, five of us (four students and me) met at Chili’s and talked—about their lives, their dreams, their struggles to finish school. About ways to help each other get there (the dream) from here (AC).

By May, there were 12. In September, 20; thirty when the semester ended in December. By April 2012, we had gone to one meeting per month with about 60 (students and faculty) attending.

More important were the stories—of students facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles, of their decisions to give up (at least temporarily), of their fellow Finishers who refused to let them quit—who put their own resources on the line (time, money, academic expertise) to make someone else’s dream come true.

Which is why this 63-year-old English teacher is not dreaming of retirement, but of the Fall semester when, I’m sure, these amazing students will continue to amaze me.

More in the next few blogs.     (See the Finisher video)