Say It Ain't So

So, in my last post, I announced that I had turned on the vacation response of my work-related email account with the intention of ignoring student emails with a vengeance.

But within twenty-four hours of doing so, I received an email from Stu Dent, who took my Intro to the Second Half of the Good Book this fall.

Stu hoped that I had had a safe trip back to Home Country, apologized for intruding upon my vacation time, and politely inquired whether s/he had passed my course. Stu intends to graduate in the spring and s/he had been quite anxious to learn hir final grade. If s/he had not passed my course, then s/he would need to register for another course in the upcoming semester in order to graduate on time.

I really tried to ignore this email. Really, I did.

But it was such a well-composed email, complete with full sentences, correct spelling, correct grammar, and use of proper titles when addressing me. And my personal opinion of Stu is that s/he is a diligent, engaged, and respectful (though not brilliant) student.

So, I replied to Stu's email.

I disclosed hir mark on the final exam and explained that I had yet to grade the final essays, thus, I could not conjecture as to whether or not s/he had passed my course. I closed with the comment that I would send an email to the class once I had posted the grades online (I did not disclose that, on the advice of a trusted colleague, I have no intention of doing so until after Christmas).

After clicking "send," the horrifying question occurred to me:

In my old age, am I becoming a softie?!?