When the class met again, several faces were missing. Before Dr. Acton arrived, there were a number of discussions about why he may have left so abruptly the previous week. The consensus opinion was that he probably prefers a brief introductory first meeting. But, we were curious, why hadn't he at least handed out a course syllabus and list of reading materials? We were determined to find out.

Dr. Acton galloped in promptly at 7 p.m. just as he had for the first meeting. "Good Evening!" he cheerfully greeted his audience, his smile brimming widely while he tossed his portfolio onto the desk.

The smile was not returned. "Oh, I see," he said, surveying the dour faces and seven empty desk chairs. "Even though some of your classmates were able to overcome any obstacles last week that may have prevented them from taking this evening class, they apparently were unable to overcome the obstacles they faced this week. That's too bad."

John, one of the students who had tried, unsuccessfully, to catch up with Dr. Acton last week, then jumped up from his seat. "Dr. Acton, why did you leave so abruptly last week?! We were all excited about getting started with our classwork! You didn't even give us a course syllabus or a reading list!"

"Young man," the old man replied, "I left because the lesson was over. This class is about dealing with life's happenings and the things you would like to happen. I said that if you want this course to be helpful to you, you must open your mind to it. If you are to learn, you must think. Prior to last week, you -- all of you -- had set a goal to take this course. Last week, you embarked on a path toward your goal and overcame any obstacles -- such as the time of the meeting -- that may have gotten in the way. That was good! But it was also fairly easy..."

"Easy?" I asked aloud, not realizing Dr. Acton had heard me.

"Yes, my friend. I think perhaps having to adjust one's schedule to accommodate participating in an activity for which you have high interest is not too difficult an obstacle for most people," he replied. "The anticipation and excitement level shown by the class last week when I entered the room was extraordinarily high. It's much more difficult to overcome obstacles when the enthusiasm for achieving your goal has dimmed somewhat or when a tougher obstacle gets in the way. My quick departure last week seems to have drawn a few of your classmates off the path."

"Why do you think that happened?" John interjected, still a bit miffed.

"Let me ask you," Dr. Acton retorted. "Why do you think that happened?"

"Well, because they probably didn't think it would be worth their time to continue in class. Maybe they thought they would be throwing their money away. Or perhaps they thought you were too strange to learn anything worthwhile from, considering the way you left so suddenly," John replied.

I cringed upon hearing that! John was being awfully bold!

"You may be right, young man," Dr. Acton said, "Your fellow classmates may have left the class for any or all of those reasons or for some other reason. But the reasons you suggest represent an obstacle that stops many people from ever accomplishing things they originally set out to do. That obstacle is 'uncertainty'."

"Class, the differences between you who are attending class today and your classmates who decided not to attend are clear: they allowed obstacles to block their path to learning the material for this class; you did not allow obstacles to block your path and you are learning new lessons here today."

"Now, son," Dr. Acton continued, addressing John, "your questions regarding a syllabus and reading list seem to confirm my assessment of the class' unreadiness to learn last week..."

"Unreadiness to learn?" I heard myself question. Dr. Acton had heard me, too.

"Yes," he turned towards me, "unreadiness." He grabbed the leather portfolio from his desk. "Look," he said, unzipping the portfolio to show the entire class that it was empty, "there's no syllabus, no reading list!"

We were astounded. "Why?" we asked collectively. "How will we learn?" one student asked. "How will we get graded?" asked another.

Dr. Acton replied, "Think about it." The old man paused for a moment, smiled, enthusiastically said, "See you next week!", and walked quickly out the door.

Nobody chased after him. We had a few things to think about.