I'm one week into my 7th, 8th and 9th online classes now and just finished up going through the syllabi, schedules and assignments. One common thread amongst all of them has been the "introduce yourself" on the discussion board assignment. I really dislike that assignment. The classes range from around 50-100 students, and reading through all of their introductions is tedious, time consuming, and time wasting. Occasionally I'll recognize a name from a previous class, invariably someone with whom I vehemently disagreed. That always makes things interesting for a brief, uncomfortable moment. But when my eyes are glazed over at the end of the day I forget who is who and frankly, don't really care.
Steve always asks me, every semester, why I take the time to read each one. I've wondered the same thing myself. There's really no way to select all and mark all as "read," like you would in an email inbox, so I have to open each one. I might as well at least scan it for something interesting while I have it open. And in my economics class this semester, my professor responded to each and every post, carrying on conversations in some of the threads. You just never know what important tidbit of information you'll miss if you don't read those. And if HE can read and respond to all those, surely I can too.
But the real reason I read each one is that I do walk away from the assignment with something hugely valuable, something that I'm sure is a completely unintended effect of the avalanche of introductions: perspective.
Perspective. Just typing that word makes me squirm. It means an uncomfortable reset of my way of thinking and the way I view my circumstances. The acknowledgment that I wasn't looking at life the way I ought to be. And in many cases, the lowering of my pride.
I get a lot of encouraging comments from friends about my efforts to finish this degree at this time in my life, as well as compliments on my ability to balance being a wife and mom at the same time I'm carrying three university classes. While I really appreciate the support, ultimately it grows my ego and blurs my perspective. Take at look at some these introductions:
My name is ____ and I am a 34 year old returning student. I have two children (six and nine) and work as a tech in a pharmacy....But, with a full time job and single fatherhood, very little options for studying in a classroom setting. Right now, this works best for me. There are some nights when I might not be able to start my "class" until 10p.m.
I'm a single mom to an adorable almost 7-year-old daughter!...
I am married with two small kids and I work full time...
My name is ______ and I am active duty Air Force...
I'm a single mother of 3 sons not by choice but by the infidelity of my soon-to-be ex-husband...
...my 70 hour work weeks only permit me to take online classes...
...I am married and I have 4 children (ages 4, 3, 1, 2 months). My family takes priority to my schooling, so I’ve had to take some time off here & there. My oldest daughter has major medical concerns, but I hope to be able to finish the two classes I am scheduled to take this semester...
...my daughter is a Daisy in Girl Scouts for which I am the Troop leader...Besides Scouts and Full-time school, I work approximately 35 hours a week as a receptionist for an electrical supply store...
I am a 27 year old accounting major and am taking both microeconomics and macroeconomics this semester along with Finite math, Biology 140 and Poly Sci...(my note: that's FIVE CLASSES folks!)
And here's what my introduction read:
My name is LaLani Green and I’m a returning student living overseas with my family. My husband works for an oil company in the Eastern Province of Saudi, where we live on a large compound (a city really, with 12,000+ residents) with our 2 sons, ages 9 & 12. I enjoy traveling (last year we spent 2 weeks in China and took a 10 day Mediterranean cruise), shopping, reading, and being active with my boys. My husband and I are both from Western Washington and really miss the mountains and good tasting water, among many other things.
What I left out of that was:
- I have someone who comes 5 mornings a week to clean my house, do laundry, clean the patio furniture, wash the car, and pretty much anything else I need him to do.
- I have a cook who comes every other week for four hours that makes homemade burritos, calzones, scones, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls and pretty much anything else I want him to make.
- My husband works a straight 40 hours a week and is home by 4:15 nearly every day - no weekends.
- My family is incredibly healthy
Get the picture? Reading through all those introductions is not my favorite thing to do, but honestly I wouldn't consider NOT reading them. I walk away (three hours later) with a ton of respect for my classmates and a renewed thankfulness for the blessings in my life. How can I truly consider that a waste of time? You can't put a price on good, healthy perspective.
3 comments:
This was really good, Lani.
Really good.
Please don't ever feel guilty about your blessed life. Each person walks their own path.
Although, your path sounds pretty nice right now :)
Meaningful post, Lani. Thanks for sharing openly. Love ya. -Jenn
Hi Lani-
You are right - perspective is always changing (if you let it), and always worthwhile. No matter how easy or how tough you have it, there is always someone else with a heavier load (or more ease) than you... but those are merely circumstance. What gives substance to perspective is... your values and how you choose to live the life YOU have. What people admire about you (I know I do) is that you have made the absolute most out of your circumstances, and kept your values. You have had some truly wonderful opportunities that many of us will not ever have; but they would have been completely wasted on someone who was not willing to adjust their perspective... and live out their values. You do it all. And those of us who watch... say thank you.
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