Life in May
Life at the University…
There are 3 more weeks left to this semester. It’s been an interesting time at the University. Changes to program entrance requirements have seen a flood of students leave the foundation program. My class of 20 is now at 8. Teaching small numbers like this is great because it allows more personalized feedback. I’m also co-teaching a writing course this year. For the most part I work with students and help them by providing in-class tutoring and writing feedback. In some ways it takes me back to my time in Korea and reminds me of the value of knowing how to bend and adapt. Every teacher I work with has their own style and beliefs about teaching and I learned a lot from my co-teachers over the years. I’ve borrowed form the good ones and learned what behaviours I want to avoid in my own practice from the others.
Seize the Day…
I was speaking with a friend today who is currently working on his masters and we spoke about the experience of working full time and studying during time outside of the office. This is actually something we chat about regularly. My own Master’s experience was not particularly good, I took leave early on because of an illness in the family and I fell out of sync with most of the other people in my intake. So the result was that my grad studies were a largely lonesome affair. I’m glad it was finished but it took its toll on me. Since coming back to Doha people have noticed that I’m often up to something these days. This is a direct result of being under academic house arrest for years on end.
Since I got my freedom I’ve been determined to seize the day and enjoy it. I was asked actually recently about doing a PHD and my response was a firm NO. I’m not saying NO forever to more grad work but I’m still in academic triage after my Masters. I’m enjoying my life too much these days to give up my time for long hours of staring into books and at computer screens. Instead I’ve been taking language courses (Korean, French and Arabic), and I’ve developed and nurtured my interest in triathlon.
I’m currently training for a half-iron man triathlon coming up this September. The training is great because it structures my day and forces me to get out of the house. There is enough variety between the biking/running and swimming that I don’t get bored with the routine. Overall it’s a good fit for me. At the end of this week I’ll finish my first month of training and I’ll do a post then regarding how things are progressing.