i started a new job yesterday. I’m a TA now, for the class Social Responsibility and Science in Global Warming. Exciting stuff, and the professor is really knowledgeable. She is enthusiastic about writing, and at some point asked me to say something about writing.
One thing led to another, writing as a tool of thought blah blah, and I asked my students(damn it feels weird to say that), whether any of them keep a blog. One girl raised her hand, no one else.
I told them then, that they should start doing it now, and it would pay them back immensely. And I agree. I’ve made various little miniblogs over the years, and all of them have been so fun to just read so many years later, leave alone their utilitarian rewards.
But as I was thinking on it later, I felt a bit hypocritical. I have switched to writing these random things all over the place, and the last time I wrote a blog was years ago.
So 30-day blogging challenge.
While I was introducing myself, i mentioned to my students that I dropped out of college. The professor took that as an opporutnity to tell them why they should stay in college, a great time to take risks and try out new things. And i agree.
Towards the end of the class, she asked the students to write a free form answer to the question, What is climate change, global warming, social responsibility, and your responsibility in all this. It was amazing, she said the question 4 different ways. I have never been asked to give my own opinion so invitingly in a college class.
In fact my reason for dropping out was that I felt all of academia had been for me an exercise in fighting for the right to think, and I was tired of it. I just wanted to be free to think and let my brain run wild, instead of mindlessly memorising the results of other peoples thoughts, without going through the journey myself.
I was bamboozled. Simply bamboozled. Great time. I’m going to enjoy this job.