Yesterday when leaving my 8:30 am Communication Law class, I was stopped by my teacher. She needed to "talk to me." I'm not going to lie, I was scared. She asked me why I looked so bored during class. I told her I was tired and not to worry about me. I'll be okay, I told her. She then told me that if I ever needed to talk or anything that she was available. I said okay, and left. After leaving I thought, "Why didn't I just tell her that she was right? I am bored." So by the time I got home, I decided to set the record straight. The following is the email I sent my teacher. . .
On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:13:14 -0800, "Jacob Gunderson"
After our talk this morning I felt a little bad because I don't feel like I was completely forthcoming with you. As I stated, exhaustion has been playing a major role in my attentiveness issues in the classroom. Advertising Campaigns has been rough lately, (we are turning in a 32 page book today to the printer, and we are usually in the lab till around midnight on Wednesday nights) and partially responsible for my inability to focus as much as I would like to in class; however, you were correct about me being somewhat bored in class as well.
I was a Criminal Justice major for two years, so a lot of the stuff we are learning I have already heard many, many times in the past. I can hardly believe that there was a time that I actually enjoyed law because today I really don't. As you know, I decided to take a different direction as far as my career is concerned. I know that understanding the law as it pertains to my future career is fairly important, but the truth is I really don't care. I wish I did, but I don't, and there is no book I can read, or person I can talk to, etc. that will make me feel differently. My focus right now is copywriting, and anything else I'm doing at school these days is only because I have to. If I had my way, I would be taking a creative writing course, or advanced copywriting, or anything else I feel would help me enhance my creative writing abilities. Spending several hours in class per week trying to learn things I absolutely do not care about is not my idea of fun, or money well spent for that matter. It frustrates me to no end knowing that I'm going tens of thousands of dollars in debt learning about things that I feel are irrelevant to my future, such as law, mathematics, and the like. Yes, I hate math too, and I'm not going to apologize for that either. I just wish I could take more classes to develop my creative abilities, and it's frustrating because I'm terrified that I will not be ready for a creative job upon completion of my degree.
Sorry for the rant. I know that everybody experiences similar frustrations. I hope you don't think it's your fault that I am unable to love the material because it has absolutely nothing to do with your teaching abilities. I honestly think that you are a very good teacher. You do a great job in presenting the material, and you actually care if the students are engaged (not all professors do) which are qualities of a very excellent teacher in my book. I will try to be more enthusiastic, I promise.
-Jake-
She then responded with this email:
Jake,
That's the best damn email I've read in a long while. Honesty can be hard to come by in this world. Is hard to come by. And frankly, I don't believe it has to be that way. We should be able to be truthful, while respectful, to others, instead of kissing ass or playing fine. Doesn't always work like that, though, huh? I guess that's when you have to make a choice about the type of person you're GOING to be AND the type of people you choose to have around. When you sent that email you made a choice--to set the record straight and cut through the BS in life--and I respect that. I suspect, Jake, that you're gonna do just fine in this world, with or without a creative writing class.
You've already got "the stuff" in you. Just keep on digging in and pulling it out.
Best,
Anne
Also--I appreciate what you said about my teaching. I'm new to this, and I also suffer from fear that I'm not being the kind of teacher I want to be.
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