Scientia potentia est.
If knowledge is power, then teachers are distributors of power.
I had a student come in to my office hours tonight, and when all the other people had left, she and I started talking about how she was doing in school, what kinds of problems she's been having, etc. I, being me, started talking about my own experiences and philosophies and how I apply them to my life and my education. (Yes, I gave her a couple actual study tips she can use right away, as well.) In the process, I also realized one thing that sets me apart from some of the other TAs, and even a lot of the professors. So many of them look upon their job as simply teaching a few students chemistry, passing the ones who learn it, and failing those who don't. Hell, maybe that is what we're supposed to be here to do, I don't know. For me, though, that's not enough. I don't want to just go in, present some information simply to give them a chance at picking it up, and go home. If I can have one student who can walk away feeling that their life has improved in any way, be it in their understanding of the way the world works, in their ability to succeed in something important to them, or even just ("just"? hA!) a general life philosophy, I feel like ...hell, I can't express the joy it gives me. When I talk to a student who actually cares, I encourage them to contact me if they have any types of questions, be it chemistry, study tips, or even how to handle certain completely unrelated situations in their lives. Last I checked, that's not in the job description. Anyway, tonight we talked about quite a few things, both with how she's doing and how I've managed to succeed in a lot of ways, and I also realized that in the process, I was falling in love with helping this girl. That sounds fucking weird, I know, but it's true. As much as I enjoy teaching in general, it's those moments where I connect with an individual that I live for.
I'm such a soft-hearted pushover. It's sickening. I love it.
Of course, I also love the fact that this intelligent, ambitious, soft-hearted pushover wanders around in the form of some punk kid who wears all black, has long hair, and just generally goes out of his way to offend whoever he can.
In other news, I'm addicted to french fries.
And, if you've put up with this entry this long, a joke for you (if you get it, please comment just to say you do
):
Heisenberg is driving down the road. A cop pulls him over and asks, "Do you know how fast you were going, sir?"
Heisenberg responds, "No, I don't, but I do know exactly where I am!"
If knowledge is power, then teachers are distributors of power.
I had a student come in to my office hours tonight, and when all the other people had left, she and I started talking about how she was doing in school, what kinds of problems she's been having, etc. I, being me, started talking about my own experiences and philosophies and how I apply them to my life and my education. (Yes, I gave her a couple actual study tips she can use right away, as well.) In the process, I also realized one thing that sets me apart from some of the other TAs, and even a lot of the professors. So many of them look upon their job as simply teaching a few students chemistry, passing the ones who learn it, and failing those who don't. Hell, maybe that is what we're supposed to be here to do, I don't know. For me, though, that's not enough. I don't want to just go in, present some information simply to give them a chance at picking it up, and go home. If I can have one student who can walk away feeling that their life has improved in any way, be it in their understanding of the way the world works, in their ability to succeed in something important to them, or even just ("just"? hA!) a general life philosophy, I feel like ...hell, I can't express the joy it gives me. When I talk to a student who actually cares, I encourage them to contact me if they have any types of questions, be it chemistry, study tips, or even how to handle certain completely unrelated situations in their lives. Last I checked, that's not in the job description. Anyway, tonight we talked about quite a few things, both with how she's doing and how I've managed to succeed in a lot of ways, and I also realized that in the process, I was falling in love with helping this girl. That sounds fucking weird, I know, but it's true. As much as I enjoy teaching in general, it's those moments where I connect with an individual that I live for.
I'm such a soft-hearted pushover. It's sickening. I love it.
Of course, I also love the fact that this intelligent, ambitious, soft-hearted pushover wanders around in the form of some punk kid who wears all black, has long hair, and just generally goes out of his way to offend whoever he can.
In other news, I'm addicted to french fries.
And, if you've put up with this entry this long, a joke for you (if you get it, please comment just to say you do
):
Heisenberg is driving down the road. A cop pulls him over and asks, "Do you know how fast you were going, sir?"
Heisenberg responds, "No, I don't, but I do know exactly where I am!"
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
doctashock:
I am very interested to hear your take specifically. I already know we have scarily similar outlooks on a lot of the topics discussed already.
doctashock:
and this journal entry of yours proves it 