I had an absolutely exhilarating day today! I took my first classes of the semester, all of which went so superbly that I can’t help but feel galvanised by the belief that my skill and confidence as a tutor have only improved since I first began tutoring. I felt a really good vibe in all of the classes and genuinely enjoyed meeting the new students as well as seeing a couple of familiar faces.
After a balmy and restless night’s sleep, I was worried that my five hours straight of classes would do me in, but they breezed by effortlessly. (I can bet my stamina will be tested next week when classes for the other course I’m tutoring begin and I have 8 hours on the one day!) After my tutorials, I headed off to the library, which has become so much of a second home for me in the last two weeks that I have begun getting people asking me questions about the machinery in the audio-visual department because they think I’m staff. Then began the tedium of data collection. I slithered my way through a year’s worth of microform records and collected over 130 newspaper articles. A quick check of the time told me that it was only 4:30pm in the afternoon. I couldn’t believe it! I had fully resigned myself to the harrowing belief that I would need to stay there until at least 6, leaving my poor Salmon to wonder why he wasn’t getting his afternoon treat. I quickly rushed out of that dark, dank place and headed home to an attention-starved kitten that demanded 10 minutes of uninterrupted affection.
In my mailbox was a parcel notice for an international signature item. I began salivating when I saw it as I’m fairly sure it would be my felt supplies from Wild Hare at last! I have a full schedule tomorrow comprised of data collection, lunch with my favourite colleague, a meeting with my supervisors, topped off with the sweet dessert of another teaching training session that really will have me leaving university at 6:30pm, but I plan to pick up my felting kit on my way into work and then I’ll be able to play with it all evening. I must remember to make my cats some felted balls as recompense for affection time lost with their Bun.
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2 comments:
Sounds like a great day! I think I was pretty good at hinting that mine wasn't so magical, and I really wanted to smack many of those kids upside the head. Building up their resilience for hard university life? Hm.. if I was allowed corporal punishment, maybe. Many of these students breeze through life believing they can do or say anything they want, talk back to authority figures and raise a defiant finger to the world, but I dunno how they're going to cope in university. I'm thinking many won't make it there, getting apprenticeships in carpentry or mechanics... so yes, don't worry, I have a good feeling none of the students I had today at least will be passed onto you in the future :P
OH receiving parcel notices is so fun! I'm expecting some books any time now, so I eagerly check the mailbox everyday for some morsel to feed my anticipation..
Looking forward to seeing your foray into felting fun!
--Rajita (Still working out the 'comment' thing)
Thanks for taking the time to get so involved in my blog so far. I have really poured a lot of myself into this blog and the entries so it's really encouraging when I find your comments :).
I don't think university students are very far removed from the students you are talking about. I'm willing to bet that for some of them, their defiance isn't really arrogance borne out of an inflated belief in their self worth, but rather, the fear and insecurity of believing they are worth very little. And because they behave that way, they rarely do come off as likeable, personable or worthy of anyone else's time, hence creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I wish so many adolescents didn't have to struggle with this learned helplessness, if perhaps they could introduce intervention workshops in mid-high school to reinforce the belief that they have the ability and power to reclaim their self-image, their self-esteem and their futures.
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