Yup. It’s happening! A blog.
Okay, it’s true. I’ve decided to start a blog. Really? I already said yes, and here’s why.
Since November 2016 I’ve had the pleasure of making the most out of the years and years of post-secondary education time (and money- so much money) studying to be an educator and became an academic tutor and mentor. After getting a job working in a school setting after graduating from Grad School in 2012, by 2016 I was feeling quite burnt out and ready to find a new career. This is not what I had in mind when I thought about working with children. Was everything I was taught in teachers college a facade? I wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember, honestly, since I was about 9 years old, so giving up on this dream was a hard pill to swallow. However, that is exactly what stress and unhappiness can do to your dreams.
Quitting my job of almost five years was one of the hardest things I did; I had moved quickly up the company and for the most part, enjoyed the challenges and skills I was facing along the way. When I was recruited on LinkedIn for a Student Tutor/Mentor job, the light at the proverbial tunnel was once again in sight. After only working at this job for a few months in the evenings after my full-time work day was done, I knew I had found the honest reason why I had always been drawn to teaching from the beginning; making a difference. Yes, it’s cliche, but it’s true. My favourite part of being an educator is building relationships with my students, evoking their love of learning and trying new things, and helping them to learn new skills. In this job, I have had the pleasure of working closely with some very special students. Working with this group of students has reminded me how much I take for granted the ability I have to write. Which brings me to the reason for this blog.
One of my students used to hate writing. We have been working hard for the past year and a half on writing. Learning to write, like reading takes time, dedication, and practice. Practice is key. Session after session we would talk about writing tips, strategies, and we would practice writing. It did not matter how much or how little we wrote but each day we wrote. With each day that passed, we wrote a little more and a little more. Eventually, we got to a point where writing came easily to her. I did not have to prompt with questions or starting ideas, she came to our sessions with a little bit of writing done for each assignment that was given to her at school.
This week, I asked her, “How do you think you became so confident at writing?” She laughed and said, “Well, when you write every day you become more comfortable with it and you know how to get the ideas out of your head and onto the paper. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense, but at least I’ve written it down and can edit it later.”
As an educator, I jumped for joy. To see this kind of progress in over a year’s time is phenomenal. This student could barely get a sentence or two out without complaining or mumbling “I don’t know what to say” over and over again. Why is this important? It is another lesson when the student becomes the teacher. My student taught me to remember that wonderful feeling you get when you write.
As someone who loved school, yes, loved school, writing came very easy to me. I conducted research and wrote essays or reports with ease. In fact, my cognate in graduate school was originally 35 pages over the requirement. Nerd alert! So what does it mean? After my session with my students ended last night I had some time on the drive home to reflect on writing. I realized I don’t write much anymore, and I miss it. Sure, I won’t be writing any reports or research essays, but at least I’ll be writing.
That was long. If you’ve stuck through all that to get to this point, I thank you! Oh, and an official welcome to my blog! Not sure what exactly you’ll be reading about on here, but hey, as the saying goes, it’s the journey, not the destination that matters.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
Five Feet High Thoughts 