A version of the real me, part 2.

As you know by now, I teach English at a college in metro Atlanta, and I teach all varieties, from learning support (read: developmental, remedial) to sophomore-level literature. Most days I enjoy it; I think I'm decent at it, and no other job has ever given me similar satisfaction.

I wish not to turn this into a rant against "problem" students. Most of mine are grappling with becoming adults, in addition to juggling their busy schedules and finding time to do their school work, so I shouldn't be surprised when they sometimes don't take the tools I proffer them.

I've tried other guises over the years, but this guise is the longest-lasting: 10.5 years in two different college systems in two different states. In other lives, I sold shoes, unloaded trucks in a warehouse, swept/mopped floors, wrote movie reviews, and gave customers bad advice over the phone. (Guess I should count my ill-fated three-week stint at Subway, too.)

My favorite in-class essay topic of all time: "Is there any job you would never take, and why?" If assigned that one, I'd tweak it to discuss jobs I would be horrible at and therefore would never take. I'm lucky to have two loving, supportive parents who supported me a lot through college, so I never waited tables, for instance, or worked construction. (Most of the above jobs I worked after college.)

Another thing I never did for very long was work and go to school simultaneously. I continually marvel at these students of mine who work 30 hours or more a week, raise kids, drive untold miles on these clogged highways, take 12 or more hours a semester, and somehow still have a pulse. I couldn't do it. I am grateful that all the elements were in place whereby I didn't have to do it.

I tried to juggle work and school when I was in grad school. Because of our sometimes-quirky schedule in Shoe Central, once I had to miss a class meeting plus a presentation I was scheduled to give. After getting verbally ramrodded by the professor, I decided I wasn't going to combine the two anymore, that I couldn't be an effective student and work too.

I'm glad I didn't have to work, and I just wish more of my students had that luxury.