What's a life worth?

Chapter 10

           Isaac woke up the next day by himself. This didn't surprise him, but he noticed the two cups of cold tea sitting on his desk. He scoffed at remembering what happened last night. No one was around, but Isaac spoke to himself as he sat up, "Last night was terrible." It was still early in the morning, so Isaac quietly cleaned up the two cups and got ready for school. He didn't have work later that day or anything planned for after his classes. Well, except for catching up on the homework that he missed. Though, he was nearly finished catching up on everything, thanks to the past two days of work.

           Isaac made his way to his Introduction the Psychology class, which was the only class he had for the day. He entered the classroom and sat at his usual spot. After a few more minutes, Mr. Forsythe entered the classroom smiling. The room wasn't full yet, so Mr. Forsythe started a light conversation while he waited for the classroom to fill up, "Has everyone had a good week so far?" Isaac didn't respond and continued to stare at the wall. However, some of the other students responded to the teacher's question. After a short conversation and the final students entering the room, the teacher stood up and started class, "I have a nice surprise guest for you all."

           The teacher's comments caught Isaac's attention. The teacher walked towards the door while speaking, "She's a former student of mine and a therapist currently." As the teacher spoke, Isaac started to get a nervous feeling in his gut. The teacher opened the door, and Isaac saw his girlfriend, Elaine, standing there smiling. Isaac wanted to sigh but held it in as Elaine walked into the room and introduced herself, "Hello, everyone. My name is Elaine. I'm Mr. Forsythe's former student, and I currently work as a therapist." Elaine looked over the room but smiled at Isaac.

           Mr. Forsythe closed the door and stood next to Elaine, "I wanted to bring in a former student of mine to show everyone here what a career in psychology could be like. So, since we don't have much class time today, I'd like it if you all spent this class asking Ms. Elaine questions about being a therapist." Mr. Forsythe grabbed a chair from the side and brought it up for Elaine to sit on. Elaine sat down and began to answer questions.

           The first student asked, "Why did you become a therapist?" Elaine brought a finger up to her chin and thought, "Hm... that's a little hard to answer. Though, I'd probably say because I've always been curious about what brings people down. Like, what makes them sad or happy. So, I guess I became a therapist to learn more about people." Elaine chuckled nervously at the end of her statement because she thought it was weird. Another student decided to ask a question, "So, have you learned more about people?" Elaine answered eagerly, "I have. I've learned so much, honestly. I've only been a therapist for two years, but I've been able to answer so many questions about myself and those around me."

           Isaac was quietly listening to Elaine speak. He didn't have any questions; if he did, he would just ask them some other time. But he thought it would be mean not to listen to his girlfriend talk and answer questions. A few of the other students began to get more eager to ask their questions, "Do you think people really learn from their mistakes? Or are they just scared to repeat those same mistakes?" Elaine suddenly grew very serious, "I believe that is part of the process. People are always learning and judging whether or not what they're doing is right for them. Of course, what they decide is right for them may not be legal or right for their health or well-being. People are constantly deciding on this, especially those in bad situations. Even if they make a mistake, they may believe that was the only option at the time. So to answer your question: yes, people do learn from their mistakes but may choose to ignore what they learned. Whether because they can't change what caused the mistake or because ignorance is bliss, I won't know unless I know the whole situation."

           Elaine took a deep breath at the end of her statement, and the room became silent. Even Isaac was a little stunned at how passionate her statement was. Finally, a light clapping sound resonated inside the room, and the class broke out in light applause. After the clapping, Elaine gently smiled at Isaac, and Isaac smiled back but didn't have any reaction otherwise. People continued to ask Elaine questions about psychology and being a therapist for another forty-five minutes, then the class finished.