beer is always tasty, even in the rain
Why can we only pick one subject to study in college (or two if you minor in something)? Why are we expected pick one line of work and stick with it? Why is it difficult nowadays to uproot and change careers if you want to? Why is our society constructed so that we have to pick one role, maybe two if you're lucky, and stick with it?
All I really want to do is be a professional student. I can't say that I ever wanted to be a physicist forever, or that I want to be a teacher forever, or that math and physics are my aptitudes and that's what I should stick with.
I kind of always wanted to study neuroscience. I kind of always wanted to study economics. I kind of always wanted to study history. I always kind of wanted to study politics. I always kind of wanted to study literature. I always kind of wanted to study computer science.
(Lately I've been interested in Whiteness studies. Funny thing, a student asked me the other day why we don't have a white culture month. I said we celebrate it every day. He asked how so, and I referred him to a Peggy McIntosh article. A few weeks ago, when I was proctoring the TAKS test, I noticed that the white males in the room were the first to finish. Hmmm... Gender and racial bias in a state standardized test? Get out of here!)
When I entered college, I just had a stronger leaning toward physics. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it is the most fundamental, most ultimate, to the core of the universe subject we have while still being empirical. After all, I do approach things empirically, which is why I tend to sometimes get annoyed with philosophers. Sure, there are lot of things that should work a certain way if you rationalize it, but yeah, it's just not how things work sometimes. And after all, theories are meant to model reality, and not the other way around.
Going back to the kid who asked about white culture month, I kind of like that my students feel comfortable enough to ask me these kind of questions. I think he tried to ask his history teacher this and that teacher blew him off, thinking he was being ignorant and racist. This kid honestly wasn't being facetious, he's a 15 year old who's trying to figure out why the world is the way it is. I especially have this kind of relationship with my seventh period, even though I complain about them the most. Yesterday we talked about the reproductive system, and they had a whole bunch of questions about sex. Most of them were surprisingly unfamiliar with their own anatomy. I wasn't trying to be crude with them, but a lot of them don't have an adult whom they can ask these kind of questions. Many of them told me they were already having sex, so I talked a lot about contraception and STDs. (The nearest Planned Parenthood to these kids is the next town over!) The other day as I had my hands in rat guts, they asked me if it bothered me to be teaching this unit because I'm a vegetarian. My response was very much so, and they said they were glad I was still here teaching them, even though they knew I didn't like what I was doing. I guess the point is that I really like the fact that I can be real with my students, even if I have to be a sell out for the administration. I really like that I do feel like I am making a difference in these kids' lives. Ha, and yesterday, they were all asking me about my tattoos. And the other day one of them told me I was his only teacher that wasn't fat. I know I don't fit in where I'm at now. But at least it's kind of good for the kids to hang out with an outsider for an hour a day.
All I really want to do is be a professional student. I can't say that I ever wanted to be a physicist forever, or that I want to be a teacher forever, or that math and physics are my aptitudes and that's what I should stick with.
I kind of always wanted to study neuroscience. I kind of always wanted to study economics. I kind of always wanted to study history. I always kind of wanted to study politics. I always kind of wanted to study literature. I always kind of wanted to study computer science.
(Lately I've been interested in Whiteness studies. Funny thing, a student asked me the other day why we don't have a white culture month. I said we celebrate it every day. He asked how so, and I referred him to a Peggy McIntosh article. A few weeks ago, when I was proctoring the TAKS test, I noticed that the white males in the room were the first to finish. Hmmm... Gender and racial bias in a state standardized test? Get out of here!)
When I entered college, I just had a stronger leaning toward physics. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it is the most fundamental, most ultimate, to the core of the universe subject we have while still being empirical. After all, I do approach things empirically, which is why I tend to sometimes get annoyed with philosophers. Sure, there are lot of things that should work a certain way if you rationalize it, but yeah, it's just not how things work sometimes. And after all, theories are meant to model reality, and not the other way around.
Going back to the kid who asked about white culture month, I kind of like that my students feel comfortable enough to ask me these kind of questions. I think he tried to ask his history teacher this and that teacher blew him off, thinking he was being ignorant and racist. This kid honestly wasn't being facetious, he's a 15 year old who's trying to figure out why the world is the way it is. I especially have this kind of relationship with my seventh period, even though I complain about them the most. Yesterday we talked about the reproductive system, and they had a whole bunch of questions about sex. Most of them were surprisingly unfamiliar with their own anatomy. I wasn't trying to be crude with them, but a lot of them don't have an adult whom they can ask these kind of questions. Many of them told me they were already having sex, so I talked a lot about contraception and STDs. (The nearest Planned Parenthood to these kids is the next town over!) The other day as I had my hands in rat guts, they asked me if it bothered me to be teaching this unit because I'm a vegetarian. My response was very much so, and they said they were glad I was still here teaching them, even though they knew I didn't like what I was doing. I guess the point is that I really like the fact that I can be real with my students, even if I have to be a sell out for the administration. I really like that I do feel like I am making a difference in these kids' lives. Ha, and yesterday, they were all asking me about my tattoos. And the other day one of them told me I was his only teacher that wasn't fat. I know I don't fit in where I'm at now. But at least it's kind of good for the kids to hang out with an outsider for an hour a day.