Eve
I was in my office at the university, the second day of classes, not yet in the swing of things at all. I was packing up my things to head home, trying to make it in time for the early weekday rerun of Scrubs, my new favourite show (well, at least until Lost begins again), when one of my students from last year, Eve, knocked on my open door and asked if she could talk to me for a few minutes.
"Of course," I said, "Come on in and sit down." There goes Scrubs, but it's not a big deal; there's another set of reruns on at 8:30, on WGN. Besides, I like Eve. She's borderline punky, has a cool haircut, and knows a lot about the underground and new music scene. She's an aspiring music journalist, and wrote one of the better blogs when I had my Survey of Media class blogging last fall.
"I've been thinking about becoming a teacher, and I wondered what you thought about that," she began.
"Well, I don't know yet. Why don't you tell me how this came about, and what makes you think you might want to do that?"
"I guess it's because I'm graduating in December, and though I want to be a magazine writer, I don't want to have to drive all the way to San Francisco every day to do it. I like living in Santa Cruz, and I don't want to commute anymore..." She went on to describe Santa Cruz, and why she likes living there. She said there's a college of education at UC Santa Cruz, and she's thinking of applying.
"Why do you think you might like teaching?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure I will, but I'd like to try. I've been looking into it, and to be a substitute teacher all you have to do is write a test. A friend of mine did it and he said it was really easy; he didn't even study. So I thought I'd do that, and try substituting, and see how I like it."
"That sounds like a good plan," I offered, "Though it's important to remember that the experience substituting won't quite be the same as when you have a class of your own full time. You were a kid. What happened in your classroom when there was a substitute?"
Eve laughed. "Oh, I can handle them. I've been a bartender for six years. How different can it be?"
Then it was my turn to laugh.
Eve continued, "I think I'd be good at it. I want to be like you, the cool teacher that all the students want to do their best for."
Have you ever heard someone say something that was so marvelous, so wonderful, it just hangs there in the air, like barely formed condensation, but the manner in which they said it was so throwaway, that you were afraid to give any sign you'd heard, lest it evaporate and you begin to doubt it was there at all?
Like that.
"Of course," I said, "Come on in and sit down." There goes Scrubs, but it's not a big deal; there's another set of reruns on at 8:30, on WGN. Besides, I like Eve. She's borderline punky, has a cool haircut, and knows a lot about the underground and new music scene. She's an aspiring music journalist, and wrote one of the better blogs when I had my Survey of Media class blogging last fall.
"I've been thinking about becoming a teacher, and I wondered what you thought about that," she began.
"Well, I don't know yet. Why don't you tell me how this came about, and what makes you think you might want to do that?"
"I guess it's because I'm graduating in December, and though I want to be a magazine writer, I don't want to have to drive all the way to San Francisco every day to do it. I like living in Santa Cruz, and I don't want to commute anymore..." She went on to describe Santa Cruz, and why she likes living there. She said there's a college of education at UC Santa Cruz, and she's thinking of applying.
"Why do you think you might like teaching?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure I will, but I'd like to try. I've been looking into it, and to be a substitute teacher all you have to do is write a test. A friend of mine did it and he said it was really easy; he didn't even study. So I thought I'd do that, and try substituting, and see how I like it."
"That sounds like a good plan," I offered, "Though it's important to remember that the experience substituting won't quite be the same as when you have a class of your own full time. You were a kid. What happened in your classroom when there was a substitute?"
Eve laughed. "Oh, I can handle them. I've been a bartender for six years. How different can it be?"
Then it was my turn to laugh.
Eve continued, "I think I'd be good at it. I want to be like you, the cool teacher that all the students want to do their best for."
Have you ever heard someone say something that was so marvelous, so wonderful, it just hangs there in the air, like barely formed condensation, but the manner in which they said it was so throwaway, that you were afraid to give any sign you'd heard, lest it evaporate and you begin to doubt it was there at all?
Like that.
Labels: academia
7 Comments:
Oh, what a wonderful compliment! Congratulations.
what a compliment! cool.
she'll outgrow santa cruz eventually. i did!
That's a wonderful compliment. :)
I wish more teachers heard stuff like that. Loki sure doesn't hear it enough from his students.
Being a teacher, I can relate. And your description of that moment is also priceless.
So much of the time, as teachers, we have no idea what kind of impact (good or bad) we're having. I'd like to get in touch with all the great teachers from my past and tell them what a great job they did.
Dude.
That's so awesome. You couldn't ask for better feedback than that. You must be a really cool teacher.
How nice! And, of course, well deserved...
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