As I move into the last few sessions of my classes, I have mixed feelings. Grading is intense now, so in that regard I will glad when it's over. (My plan for tomorrow is to spend 8-12 hours on grading.) Also I will be glad to be finished with the three-hour twice-per-week course. That's just too long! On the other hand, I will miss my current students, especially those in my evening class. I told them tonight that I couldn't have asked for a better group to ease my re-entry into teaching. I misted up when I said it, and I could see that some of them were emotional too. And I have grown to like some of the students in my daytime class, but others are real pains in the ass. One of them asked me today if she could have extra credit for giving me a good review. I think she was talking about the evaluations they do of the class, but I'm not entirely sure. After my immediate (and perhaps harsh) "no", I told her that I wanted all of them to be honest on the evaluation, so even if I wanted to I wouldn't reward them for their positive comments.
I really do feel like I'm doing what I was born to do. That probably sounds overly-dramatic, but each of us has a calling, and I was lucky to find mine early enough in life to devote many years to it. I may have another calling that I pursue in later years, but for now I think I'm right where I'm supposed to be.
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