The freshman you were patient with will be patient with someone you’ll never meet.

Patience travels through a group in a direction you will never get to watch. The younger person you helped learns what normal looks like from you, and that is what they pass to whoever arrives after they have taken your place. You do not get to see that part. It happens regardless, which is a reason to be careful about the version you are modelling.

Find the person in your class or on your team who is furthest behind and give them ten unhurried minutes this week. Explain the thing twice if twice is what it takes. You are setting the tone for people you will never meet.