The Art of Crying
As I made aware to everyone on the first day of class, as well as other times, this class is not the best of times for me. I find it very difficult to read so many works of literature and write about them. Being a Math major, I'm not used to doing these things.
Because of this difficulty with the class, I'm constantly stressing over it. I never feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to do and thinking how I'm supposed to think and so on and so forth. I can honestly say that since the semester started, I have cried about my work in this class at least once a week.
I'm not saying this for pity or special treatment or attention. Nothing like that. I'm just merely stating it. I'm trying with all my might to act like I know what I'm doing and am confident in my ideas when really every class I manage to hold back a meltdown. Generally speaking, I am very to myself and keep my ideas to myself. I find blogging very difficult because I have to put my ideas out there and it's something unnatural to me. I give all English and Literature major so much credit for enjoying the subject because I certainly cannot handle it. I'm very glad that other people enjoy it though.
I'm hoping and praying that as the semester continues I can suck it up go through a week without having a crying fit. So here's to being an optimist!
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Heather Mourick on The Art of Crying: I understand completely! Duri
I understand completely! During class I'm usually okay, simply because I thrive on the interaction that face to face discussion provides. I blatantly told Dr. Jerz that if he ever extends a deadline two days before the initial one, I might freak out.
I think it's just that this class actually forces you to push your limits and become better at things that you don't like, it makes it just that much harder! It may even be things you do like! I love reading, I love reading new literature and broadening my horizons, but it's hard!
I finally figured that the best way to blog - for me - is to dedicate as much time as I spend on facebook a day on blogging. So every other day or so, I spend a couple of hours just seeing what everyone is up to. As an example - this.. or Jeremy... he blogged about G20 recently, and so did I !! which gave me something to relate and can also be used later for possible portfolios as a carrosel topic.
It can be hard, but I think the best thing to do is find what works for you and use that to your advantage... and maybe even tell Dr. Jerz since he is very open to learning how we learn - it makes him a better teacher and it helps us in the long run :)
Meagan, thanks for being so candid. A discussion class does require every student to contribute, but I certainly understand if you have some reactions that you'd rather contribute in class, by a print-out that you hand me at the beginning of class, or maybe even in an e-mail, rather than posting it in a blog for everyone to read.
If you'd like some practice talking about your reactions to what you read, I'd be happy to meet with you each week during my office hours, or maybe you and a few students could meet in a place that's comfortable to you, and you could go over some ideas you might want to bring up in class.
All these discussion techniques -- both in person and online -- are designed to help you develop the skills you'll need to tackle the major papers. It's probably better that you feel yourself extending a bit beyond your comfort zone each week, rather than waiting until your final paper is due and realizing that it asks for a way of thinking that's completely different from anything you've done before.
Yes, a positive attitude is extremely important, especially if you're taking some personal risks in the name of education.