Criminal Justice Class

Last evening I gave a guest lecture to a criminal justice class at Nassau Community College. I was invited by my friend Rene Fiechter, an assistant district attorney in Nassau County, who teaches the class. I arrived in a timely manner and at the appropriate time I stood to address the class. It has been a long time since I stood in front of a class full of students (I’m a former junior high school French and Italian teacher). I was a bit nervous looking into the blank stares of about thirty 18-20 year olds.

I gave it my best, opening up with a song I (which met with mild approval) and continuing for an hour or so. There were some smiles at the funny parts but for the most part they seemed detached. One young man raised his hand at one point and suggested that my message would be great for an AA meeting. I took that to be a positive contribution. I closed with a song which was followed my more polite applause mostly at the urging of Rene, my friend.

I encouraged them to fill out an evaluation paper, while I sang my last song, grading me and asking them for feedback. The evaluation also gives them the opportunity to sign up for my email list. I felt good when at the end of my portion of the class before they took a break several young people came to me asking to purchase a copy of my book, Simple Happiness, 52 Easy Ways to Lighten Up.

When I got home I sat down to read the evaluations. A broad smile took over my face as I read their feedback:

“This talk will really affect my outlook on life and keep a positive outlook on life and to be unafraid of failure and pursue my passions to obtain true happiness.”

“I liked the whole message and the songs. Thank you for coming to speak to us”

“Jim is good at expressing points, establishing appreciation, getting the audience to listen and think”

“I loved the speech and especially the quotes.”

“It was good, I was able to learn a lot.”

“I learned a lot about compassion. Your talk reminded me a lot of the book, The Secret.”

"I really enjoyed the whole thing. It was very inspiring."

It’s a real lesson for me to not assume anything about the audience just by observing their body language. It’s up to me to maintain my energy despite what might seem to be in the minds of the audience. There’s always more there than meets the eye.