Some of the students are opportunists, like other people in life, looking to take advantage of a situation for personal gain. But most of them seem to have good intentions. They just don't know yet that you can push a point too far in the eyes of others and harm your cause more than help it. Eventually they will learn that just because you feel strongly about something yourself doesn't mean that others necessarily will see it your way no matter how passionate you are, or that they will support your tactics because you think it is the right way to proceed. If it were a class it would be Life Experience 101.
Your point about community college resonates with me. As I've said here on various occasions, I have students who milk cows and do other family-first farm work before coming to classes on a given day. Others work ridiculously long and late hours just to pay for tuition and other necessary life costs. Many are first-generation college students who appreciate the chance to have a life that their parents and grandparents never had. Obviously that is not true of every single student in the non-elite campus setting, and not every "privileged" student comes from an elite background. But it is true of enough of those at the smaller, "off Broadway" schools, and even many of the bigger and higher-profile ones, that we can see a fundamental difference. I enjoy working in an environment where the vast majority of the students are well-grounded and realistic about both what they are there for and what kind of opportunity they have that so many elsewhere on Earth never get. They are grateful for that and tend not to take their blessings for granted.
Some of the students are opportunists, like other people in life, looking to take advantage of a situation for personal gain. But most of them seem to have good intentions. They just don't know yet that you can push a point too far in the eyes of others and harm your cause more than help it. Eventually they will learn that just because you feel strongly about something yourself doesn't mean that others necessarily will see it your way no matter how passionate you are, or that they will support your tactics because you think it is the right way to proceed. If it were a class it would be Life Experience 101.
Your point about community college resonates with me. As I've said here on various occasions, I have students who milk cows and do other family-first farm work before coming to classes on a given day. Others work ridiculously long and late hours just to pay for tuition and other necessary life costs. Many are first-generation college students who appreciate the chance to have a life that their parents and grandparents never had. Obviously that is not true of every single student in the non-elite campus setting, and not every "privileged" student comes from an elite background. But it is true of enough of those at the smaller, "off Broadway" schools, and even many of the bigger and higher-profile ones, that we can see a fundamental difference. I enjoy working in an environment where the vast majority of the students are well-grounded and realistic about both what they are there for and what kind of opportunity they have that so many elsewhere on Earth never get. They are grateful for that and tend not to take their blessings for granted.
Thank you.
I did write a different reply but deleted it. It wasn't a bad one, lol.
I was just wondering if we have made our kids (and ourselves) too soft and unaware.
Have a wonderful weekend Mr. D!
You too! Sunny and warm here in Dairyland USA -- great weather for finally getting those flowers in the dirt and starting a beautiful garden.