Other Ways to Learn | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Other Ways to Learn | Previous Challenge Entry
By Ken Grant
11/15/15
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Katherine Bryant, 'Katie' to everyone who knew her, turned the knob on the front door of her family's split-level colonial home and quickly stepped inside. Her day had been long, hard, and frustrating and all she could think about was climbing the stairs and disappearing into the sanctuary of her bedroom. She was just about to put her right foot on the staircase when she heard the sound that she had been dreading since she had stepped off of the bus.

"Katie, is that you?"

Her grandmother's distinctive voice carried throughout the house. Katie considered blowing her grandmother off, but wasn't prepared to deal with the consequences of that decision. Hopefully she could deal with grandma quickly, but that wasn't likely. She walked over to the kitchen and stepped slowly inside.

"Katie, I thought that was you. How was your day?"

Her grandmother was standing near the stove in front of a large pot that was sending a powerful and pleasant smell up toward the ceiling. She was holding a large spoon in the air which she pointed in Katie's general direction.

"Not so good, grandma."

"That's what I figured. School is hard at your age. Can you help me stir this stew?"

Katie's shoulders slumped, but she knew that she couldn't say no. It just wasn't the way in her family. She took the spoon from her grandmother's right hand and began to slowly stir. She didn't really want to be here, but she couldn't deny that her grandmother's cooking always smelled great.

"What's going on at school, dear?"

Katie sighed quietly to herself before responding, "I just want to do my work and come back home, but the other kids won't leave me alone."

"School isn't just about learning from books."

Katie continued to stir the stew, but she looked over at her grandmother who was now sitting at the large table that dominated the middle of the kitchen.

"What do you mean, grandma?"

"Much of what you learn in life is in just getting by each day. You learn to deal with people. You learn to listen and understand people who are different from you."

"Most of the kids at school are jerks."

Katie's grandmother smiled as she replied, "For now. Remember, they aren't finished yet. They are still growing and learning. Just like you."

Katie stopped stirring. She wanted to react angrily, but she couldn't do that to her grandmother. She looked into that weathered face for some sign that she was kidding, but she couldn't find anything like that in those aged lines.

"Are you really comparing me to those kids at school?"

"I am."

"You think that I'm like them?"

"I think you have a lot to learn."

Katie walked over and placed the spoon on a towel on the table next to her grandmother. She wanted to stomp out, but she knew that she couldn't. She turned to face her grandmother and said, "Grandma, did you really need me to stir that stew?"

"What do you think, dear?"

"I think you just wanted to talk."

"Then you learned something."

Katie smiled and began to walk out of the kitchen.

"See you at dinner, grandma." She called back.

"See you then, dear. I'm looking forward to it."

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