Those who can teach… do…

Have I mentioned my amazing instructors? But not because I have outstanding marks (when I say outstanding I mean they aren’t in yet… not that I’m “outstanding”.) They truly are awesome… again, instructors… not marks!!

For many years, I taught at the university… imparting my knowledge on class after class… remembering their names for the year then all but forgetting them except for a few. I received wonderful reviews each semester that meant the world to me… Christmas ornaments that adorn my tree and a sense that I was making a difference… the greatest feeling of all. I absolutely loved teaching and kept an “open door policy” to my office… often spending many more hours to get my marking done than necessary due to the amount of students that dropped in with various issues or “just to chat”. It was wonderful… I truly felt like I was making a difference in their lives.

When starting this program, I had mixed feelings about not being the one to stand in front of the room… suddenly faced with the idea of staying awake through torturous lectures and having little control about how my day would play out. For weeks, I accidentally called my classmates “my students”, had a difficult time not curling up on the couch in the teachers lounge, couldn’t understand why I wasn’t being invited for lunch and for the life of me, didn’t know why I hadn’t been issued a bathroom key! I forgot, more than once, that I was on the other side of the table this time! I didn’t think I was capable of settling into the role of a student but my mind was quickly changed by the two instructors who walked into the room that first day… one, just a little more sarcastic than me… the other, just a little more nuts!

I couldn’t imagine two people could inspire me the way they have. Dragging from the recesses of my brain… a creativity I’d long since brushed aside. But they’ve done it… exceedingly well (not that you can tell from my marks!) As my work lands on the table week after week for critique… I’m told things like “this makes me want to vomit”, “I thought it was a piece of shit” and “ehh… you’re a bit better than mediocre”! Comments like these… honest to a fault and told with a grin… are mixed in with “we’re really proud of you”, “this is awesome” and “you nailed it”.

Both Rob and Crystal have a way of keeping me captivated which is a task in itself. I’m not the easiest person to pull out of my imagination… happily content to daydream or chat to the person next to me… an instructors worse nightmare! However, with wit, charm, understanding, passion, sarcasm and absolutely insane personalities… they did it.

And in the process… I’m getting a bit better than mediocre.

Not that you can tell from my marks!