End of Term Quotables

It is the end of Fall term at Pacific.  As such, I've tried to meet with my writing students individually to prepare the last push toward completing their final research paper and, also, to debrief the term with them.  Here's a couple of things the students felt they needed to share with me.

1. From a student who expressed anxiety about writing all term long, she said, "I can write now.  I used to feel like I was mostly a test-taker, but now I feel like I can write a 10-page paper and do good."

2.  From a senior student who displayed multiple writing issues and had an academic accommodation for Disability Services, she said, "I know what I have to do now.  I took composition classes at my other school, but now I feel like I know what I have to do for me.  I know my process."

3.  From a fairly reserved student who didn't necessarily say much in class but who handed in lovely creative pieces, she said, "I want to talk to you about minoring in Creative Writing."  I told her I didn't do advising as I was an adjunct, but she said she wanted to talk to me.

4.  Via email I got a student who said, "Thanks for a great and fulfilling term."

I love these comments.  It isn't that I had something to do with them, which I know I did, but that it means they LEARNED.  They learned about their process, they grew past their phobias, they discovered a passion, and they achieved the rewards of working hard on a singular skill, a focused pursuit.  THIS is why I teach.  I want this for every student who enters my classroom.  I want to facilitate this process for them.  I want them to discover themselves and the world in the way writing makes possible. 

It's been a long and grueling term, one that had me questioning my methods and my effectiveness.  None of that has gone away, but maybe instead has been validated.  Maybe this insecurity, this desire to be better for them, will make me a lifelong learner and push me to better myself each and every term.  In the meantime, I'm basking in the glow of their development.