A two-minute post

Two student encounters today, very different but both in some way gratifying.

A student in the 101 class had to get up and leave, as she started to cry when I was talking about their essays (due Wednesday). I said, "You're going to make mistakes. That's OK; it's my job to help you fix them. Have you hear the expression 'fail forward'? You're not going to fail, but you will make mistakes--and that's good as that's when learning happens." She had told me on the first day that the idea of writing petrifies her; she came back into the classroom toward the end, but I had to sit with her and talk her through a panic attack, trying to get her to breathe slowly and evenly. It helped, but she's a mess. I hope she comes to talk with me tomorrow, as she said she wanted to.

I'd forgotten that I had a mentoring appointment with a student from the SF class. He's one of the ones whose photo was deceptive: he's tremendously bright and well read. He didn't have any particular topic in mind for our meeting today; I think he just wanted to hang out and talk. He started by asking how I was doing--he's the one who expressed empathy over  my feelings when Le Guin died--and although my emotional state is worse now (for reasons having to do with my personal life), I didn't want to get into it with him, so I made a noncommittal answer and quickly shifted the attention over to him. I did talk about myself and my life outside of my professional world, but nothing very revelatory. I finally had to chase him out so I could write this post and hustle off to PT.

But I do love those one-on-one meetings with students. They're one of the best parts of my job, as I've said repeatedly in this blog.

Now I have to deal with traffic and get to PT. I hope I have time for a more substantive post tomorrow.