Checking Week
While most students have finally reached the end of the semester with their last few subjects, I have begun checking the stacks of papers left for my three classes.
It does happen that checking time induces the greater consumption of food and beverage. And often, frustration while checking is shortly followed by cravings for comfort food. A lot of comfort food.
Ah-- Milk Tea? Coffee and Chocolate all in one day?
Didn't I just have a whole bag of chips earlier this afternoon?
I don't remember eating a pint of ice cream, that must have been yesterday.
How many more papers did you say I needed to complete? Very well then, bring it on. Bring it ALL on.
Inasmuch as checking week has seemed to be a viable reason for me to splurge my hard-earned money on my fleeting gastronomic desires, the fact that it is Lent and that I cannot afford more pounds to my weight keeps me at bay. It has also been reassuring for me to see that this is not a battle that only I am experiencing; there is always that temptation to head out to the convenience store to return to that idyllic state of consuming another chocolate ice cream bar. (Those commercials do make it look like the "consumee" of the ice cream bar or whatever food product is suddenly in a state of ecstasy and notably isolated from his/ her peers).
I don't mean to overrate the state of having to check papers. I suppose that some would be more than eager to trade their spreadsheets, business transactions and other "more serious" day jobs for mine for a day. However, it's not just checking that makes my job difficult... it's, rather, the onslaught of thoughts that come with the responsibility of affixing that numerical equivalent on that paper. Detached, I can easily say whether a paper is worth reading or a waste of time. But more often than not, I think of that student who wrote that paper. The paper that I am checking also determines another semester that this student will have to take, or that the student possesses other skills which a numerical value simply cannot do justice to. Other times, it's the thought of whether I had failed to teach this skill-- and even whether it is something I should have taught as part of my subject.
Some errors are too surprising-- some things which I had taken as common sense, apparently need to be taught or pointed out.
It is this frustration in checking that leads me also to wonder if I had been the same in my younger years.
More naive, definitely. Inaccurate and careless with my research material-- that's another story. Assumptions based entirely on personal feeling when the essay should be about historical and textual proof-- I dare not say what that even is.
It's days like this that motivates me to go back to writing... until I realize that I have no idea again where to begin.
I sincerely miss writing. Just that feeling of writing, and feeling that I had turned in a paper that's worth a second read.
It does happen that checking time induces the greater consumption of food and beverage. And often, frustration while checking is shortly followed by cravings for comfort food. A lot of comfort food.
Ah-- Milk Tea? Coffee and Chocolate all in one day?
Didn't I just have a whole bag of chips earlier this afternoon?
I don't remember eating a pint of ice cream, that must have been yesterday.
How many more papers did you say I needed to complete? Very well then, bring it on. Bring it ALL on.
Inasmuch as checking week has seemed to be a viable reason for me to splurge my hard-earned money on my fleeting gastronomic desires, the fact that it is Lent and that I cannot afford more pounds to my weight keeps me at bay. It has also been reassuring for me to see that this is not a battle that only I am experiencing; there is always that temptation to head out to the convenience store to return to that idyllic state of consuming another chocolate ice cream bar. (Those commercials do make it look like the "consumee" of the ice cream bar or whatever food product is suddenly in a state of ecstasy and notably isolated from his/ her peers).
I don't mean to overrate the state of having to check papers. I suppose that some would be more than eager to trade their spreadsheets, business transactions and other "more serious" day jobs for mine for a day. However, it's not just checking that makes my job difficult... it's, rather, the onslaught of thoughts that come with the responsibility of affixing that numerical equivalent on that paper. Detached, I can easily say whether a paper is worth reading or a waste of time. But more often than not, I think of that student who wrote that paper. The paper that I am checking also determines another semester that this student will have to take, or that the student possesses other skills which a numerical value simply cannot do justice to. Other times, it's the thought of whether I had failed to teach this skill-- and even whether it is something I should have taught as part of my subject.
Some errors are too surprising-- some things which I had taken as common sense, apparently need to be taught or pointed out.
It is this frustration in checking that leads me also to wonder if I had been the same in my younger years.
More naive, definitely. Inaccurate and careless with my research material-- that's another story. Assumptions based entirely on personal feeling when the essay should be about historical and textual proof-- I dare not say what that even is.
It's days like this that motivates me to go back to writing... until I realize that I have no idea again where to begin.
I sincerely miss writing. Just that feeling of writing, and feeling that I had turned in a paper that's worth a second read.