Voices From College
September 7th, 2009One of the wonderful things about teaching is that students don’t stop being students in June. They stick around for far, far longer than that—fortunately.
Student: “Hale, you will be happy to know that my English class in college reminds me of the way you ran your classes…minus the stories about killing animals. =)”
Me: “I’m not sure how to take that…?”
Student: “It’s a good thing! She just really loves to get the class involved, and look for the hidden meaning…she doesn’t let anyone just sit there.”
Student: “Is it egotistical or educational that I’m re-reading my six page synopsis of Aristotle’s Politics that I did in Crime and Punishment?”
Me: “Are you sharing it with others? If not, educational.”
Student: “I’m not sharing it! I just wanted to re-read the material. It’s tough enough getting just me out of the cave… If that class was taught in college, I’d take it again. Good material.”
Student: “I cannot count the number of times someone has had me read the Allegory of the Cave. I could probably recite the thing by now.”
Student: “So I have something to talk about with you later.”
Me: “Everything okay?”
Student: “Yeah… its hard to explain. See… I don’t drink… I don’t party. I don’t go out…. but everyone on my floor does. I’m serious… everyone, at least on my floor and everyone I have talked to today says they are going out tonight. I have not talked to one person who is staying in. It’s stupid.”
Me: “Yeah, it is. That is brutally hard… peer pressure is unbelievable, huh? We talk about it, we mention it, and it never really comes close to the reality.”
Student: “Stupid yes! But I was wondering if you could send me some advice. I don’t want to fall into the peer pressure. I want to keep my morals.”
Me: “I’ll send you something.”
Student: “Who surrendered first, the Germans or the Japanese? And have you seen Inglorious Bastards?”
Me: Germans. “May 4-5, 1945. Admiral Dönitz surrendered, and as acting head of the German Reich, it was effectively the end of the war. The official articles of surrender were two days later. And no, I haven’t.
Student: “Thanks—you just won me five dollars that I could get the information faster via text than Wikipedia. And you should.”
September 7th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
I love that. I’m still hearing from my students from 10+ years ago. They make me feel all gooey inside when they say things like “I remember when you totally kicked my hiney for blowing off your class! Thanks so much for doing that,” and “Remember that thing you kept harping on? Active listening? I used that today at work and I think I impressed the heck out of someone.”
The best is “You know what? You were right. You’re class *was* the most important class I ever took.”
September 8th, 2009 at 11:17 am
RE: the only kid left in the dorms
You’ll find that that not only happens in college, but also when you get married and/or pregnant. Or have a “Real” job. Or don’t like the dive that everyone else goes to. Or like to talk about real, actual, thinking kinds of things. It was a little bit amazing to Luke and I just how many people we knew dropped off the face of the earth when we got married. Many people who came to(or were IN) our wedding, we haven’t seen or hardly heard from since. It sucks, and can be awfully lonely sometimes when you just wish ONE of them would call and ask how you’ve been.
BUT THE GOOD NEWS!! You will find friends who are better than that, by not caving in. They might be older than you. They might not like all the same things you do, or fit in with anyone you’ve been friends with before. But trust me, they will be the ones who will listen to you when you need it(even at ungodly hours of the night), will bring you baking powder when you’re up to your elbows in pumpkin bread batter, and will watch your stupid cats when you go on vacation. Cherish them.
ALSO:
READ READ READ. All that time and money all your classmates are spending on booze(and going out and recovering and so on), spend it on getting your ass to the library, getting your free little blue library card, and read your brains out. Don’t only read what you’re interested in, sometimes pick a book solely by the design on the spine, or because you like the font, or the book is a neat color. Or whatever. On the other hand though, don’t force yourself to go stupid trying to like a book you just can’t get into. It’s happened to me a couple of times, don’t beat yourself up over it. Ask around for suggestions. Your librarian can be invaluable in this department. I love my little Stratton Free Library more than any building in West Swanzey. READ!