Two days of each week, I am a student.  The others I am the teacher.  Dual roles change my perspective on each. Following a syllabus, meeting due dates, depending upon my printer to perform, and slogging through a reading list of another’s design render me a teacher with empathy. How can I NOT understand?

As I teacher, I know what it feels like to endure students who don’t give a hoot, a behavior seen rarely at the college level, but rears its ugly head often in high school.  Perhaps they really do give a hoot, but their value system and appreciation for writing and reading are nowhere near mine.  I’d love to teach students owning a work ethic and level of interest equal to mine.

It’s a mystery to many why a 55-year-old woman, primed for retirement, would plod along year after year, ticking away at the required 36 college credit hours for a Master’s degree. The idea sprang from the need for a teacher with an English Masters for the Early College Program at the High school where I teach. Fueled by encouragement from my lead teacher and friend, and made possible by an excellent program at University of Indianapolis, I started back to school.

If all goes as planned, I will complete my final course work in December, polish and submit my thesis by May, and graduate.  At that point, I will have options.  My teaching options will expand and I will be afforded the time to study “just-for-fun” stuff.

Right now, I just have to keep my nose to the grindstone until May enjoying my seat on both sides of the desk.