Loving the Game

I usually avoid inflating my ego too much with what the students say. Korean students are abnormally positive when assessing their teachers. But today, they really surprised me.

It was Final Exam day and the students were turning in their final essays. A talkative girl nicknamed 'Grandma' handed me her test. When I asked about her HW, she said, "there's a letter on the test." It said, "teacher, honestly, I'm not in this class. I passed the speaking test, so I don't need this class. I like your teaching, so I keep coming. Thanks for my favorite class."

As the day went on, I realized many students throughout this semester had passed the exemption test and should be enjoying their well-earned and much needed free-time. Instead, they continued to attend my class, even when we had difficult and stressful (for most) speaking presentations, they did the work knowing it had no bearings on their academic life here at PNU. That's the kind of compliment I can't ignore! I was so grateful and I invited each one of them out for lunch to have a chance at an actual 'practical' conversation in English. I'd do more if I had more free time.

This made me ask myself, "would I do the same in their situation?" Immediately, I think 'no' because I surely wasn't one of those 'above and beyond' - type students. Then I remembered the year after graduation. I had a college degree, which used to mean something, but I was delivering pizzas for Dominos. It was hard to hold my head up high. So, although graduated and not enrolled for classes, I started attending some art classes with my friend Lindsey. I asked the teacher if it was alright if I just came to class and didn't do the work, and they never had a problem with it. Did my request inflate their egos as my students did mine? I doubt it, they'd been in the game too long. 'Yes' I suppose I would if it was a class that meant something to me.

Thinking back to college, I remembered my Spanish teacher, Senior Gomez, very clearly. He was old, looked like he had a hard time waking up and dressing himself in the morning. He was a real Spaniard, very accustomed to a more relaxed style of life, drinking wine and talking culture. I recall him spending a large part of the lecture just ridiculing America's lack of taste and dishonest politics. Beyond that, he'd hit on all the girls in a cute, old-man kind of way, not perverted in the least. Although I can't say my Spanish improved much in the class, I still remember this man very fondly, and it's because he was in the moment. His lesson wasn't just regurgitated material he'd been spitting for years, he was with us, REALLY talking to us. That was unique in my college experience.

Of course I want my students to improve their English ability. But, looking in the rear-view mirror, I'd like them to remember me as a teacher who wasn't so fixated on a plan, that he forgot to look at them and think about their lives. I know they're busy, I know they could use the free-time and I fully appreciate those who attend my class not because they have to, but because they want to.