Three days into the first week of classes at two different colleges, a former student sent me an email asking for a letter of recommendation. That was Wednesday; she needed it Thursday. She was a good student, and I didn't have a problem writing a letter for her. I did have a problem doing it with one day's notice. So I told her I wouldn't do it until today (Friday) if she could wait until then. I expected her to say never mind, thinking that she may have sent a similar message to other previous instructors and would just take what she got. Instead, she was very grateful. I sent the letter off a few minutes ago.
This week has been a long one, but fortunately I don't have classes on Fridays. As much as I've hated leaving the house at 7:00 in the morning for my early classes, I absolutely love being finished on campus before 11:00 every day. Of course, my class time is only about a third of my work time (for that job, not to mention my other work!), but I'm always happy when I can finish early and get on with my day. However, I have had a hard time getting up at -- or, more precisely, a hard time sleeping until -- 5:00. I'm not sure whether everyone has this problem, but when I have to wake up to an alarm, especially when I haven't done it for a while, I wake up repeatedly through the night, worried my alarm won't go off. That's what happened all week. I'll get the pattern down soon.
The student letter situation was a "not right now," but I had a good "no" moment this morning. I don't want to get into what it was, except to say that some people are not satisfied when you help them. They will thank you but only feel emboldened to ask for more. This is shaping how much help I decide to give anyone. I won't feel taken advantage of; I know others can take only what I allow them to. But I'm getting good at no.
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