Trying to be...
2003-08-29 - 8:19 a.m.
1. Are you going to school this year?
No, but its funny....every year at this time of year I get that pining feeling of youth. The "aw man! Summer's over" feeling coupled with the "hey, this is a new year...I'm so excited for change!". Its funny how that never leaves you, isn't it?
2. If yes, where are you going (high school, college, etc.)? If no, when did you graduate?
Wow, I'm going to date myself, aren't I?
I made the jump from elementary school to junior high in 1981
I graduated high school in 1987
I became a college graduate in 1991
And most recently, after a nearly-decade hiatus from formal education, I recieved my Masters degree is Social Work in June of 2001
3. What are/were your favorite school subjects?
When I was younger, I adored Math. I excelled at it, and starting in the third grade was advanced to the next years classroom only for Math classes (this was before the "switch rooms for different classes" thing). So all day I would be in my third grade classroom, then at Math time I would switch. One day I came home crying because I missed my third-grade bonus of "Extra Gym" (it was kickball!) because I had to go to fourth grade math, and I decided I didn't want to be smart anymore.
I got over it.
But Math was by far my favorite.
When I got older, psychology and sociology definitely took the prize. I loved finding out how and why we ticked like we do, and why groups act/interact like they do.
4. What are/were your least favorite school subjects?
Calculus. This is where math no longer was fun. Early on, algebra and geomotry, those problems had solutions, and if you focused enough you could get them. Calculus was all random to me, the rules didn't make sense, and you had to rely on a calculator instead of your noggin. I hated that.
History/Social Studies was also a downer for me...but in retrospect I'm thinking that had to do w/the teachers not the subject. I wish I had paid more attention to it back then, because now it is of interest to me. ts funny, at the time things like geography, history, politics etc seem so daunting and annoying and "factual"....if only I could have absorbed it all back then, I feel that I would be so much more aware of things today.
5. Have you ever had a favorite teacher? Why was he/she a favorite?
I've had lots of favorite teachers....
In elementary school it was Mr. T. He was my fourth-grade math teacher (again, I was in third grade). For some reason, the class the year ahead of mine was bigger than the school had ever had, so every year, Mr. T advanced with that class. So in fourth-grade, I had him for fifth-grade math. In fifth-grade I had him for sixth-grade math. And then in sixth-grade, he private taught me pre-Algebra while the rest of the class had study session. He encouraged me to tutor a fellow student in regular math. He chose me to represent our school to meet the Mayor on some appreciation day. He hooked me up with the new student from Korea to help her learn English. He taught me to never be ashamed of being smart. In retrospect, Mr. T was probably a fresh out of school 25 year old kid, but to me he was a really smart, funny-looking but motivating GROWN UP.
In college, Professor C was amazing. She was my first "feminist", I mean, the first person I knew to use the word in a non-scary way. She taught sociology, and I managed to take a class by her every single semester. I can still hear her voice in my head saying "the personal IS political". She inspired me.
In graduate school, my Policy professor, Professor F, scared me. He was so incredibly brilliant and intimidating. He had written several books,and when he spoke we were all mesmorized as though he were preaching the gospel. I had been warned not to take his class because he was too "hard", but I decided to be brazen and take him anyway, knowing his reputation for brilliance. It was my first semester of graduate school, and his was the first class in the week. His intimidation kept me motivated. I read EVERY article he assigned (which let me tell you, was a fuck-load) and I struggled to make sense of the really complex, difficult, mumbo jumbo within.
I never felt like I contributed to the classroom debates. I felt dumb in that room. Any time I drifted off daydreaming would be when he would focus in and say "C - what do you think about xyz" and I would be flustered and mutter some nonsensical answer. But, unlike my classmates who would talk behind his back about him being too hard or liking to embarrass us, to me, this was a challenge. I wanted to impress him.
I struggled on my papers, knowing he is reknown for making students rewrite papers four or five times before giving them a pass (my grad school was pass/fail/honors). When my first paper was returned with encouraging comments written in the margins and comments about my writing skills, I was like a groupie to a rock star "he liked it...he thought I made valid points!". But then the fear returned for the next paper, even though ultimately, the response was the same. For the final paper, I asked for two extensions. Not becuase the paper wasn't complete...it was. I was fearful to hand it in becuase I was fearful he would think it inadequate. I tweaked and proofed and reread that paper until I could stand it no more....and finally, still fearful, handed it in. He called it "provactative" and "articulate" and "thoughtfully worded".
Three months before I graduated, I got a phone call...."Hi, this is B, I'm Professor F's wife, and I work for blahblahblah....we have a position here, and he tells me you'd be a great candidate for it. Please give me a call at....."
So now here I am, the director of a program with Professor F's wife my direct supervisor and a very close friend. We have gone out socially with the F's and have been to their daughter's wedding. The professor I struggled so hard to impress recommended me to his wife for my job, and 2 1/2 years later I am still grateful as well as shocked that he saw something in me that I wasn't sure was even there.
