I started my first day of Fall Quarter at Shoreline Community College by driving around the parking lot for forty minutes, looking for a parking space. It’s quite ridiculous, actually, and I was one of many caught in that awkward situation. When I finally gave in to the realization that I couldn’t find one by looking I just parked my car off to the side of one of the wider isles, turned the engine off, and read a book while sitting on my hood. About ten minutes later I talked to one student that was leaving for the day and she graciously gave me her space. (Did I mention that I’ve paid for parking for the quarter?)
Besides my instructor, who’s coming out of retirement to continue his love of teaching, I’m pretty sure that I am the oldest person in my speech class. This doesn’t bother me, but I do think that it will influence the class in the same way that the ethnic diversity of this call will influence our progression. I’m not sure that I will have the opportunity to form any real kind of connection to my peers.
My instructor seems to be a very interesting fellow. He’s been a teacher for nearly forty years, and most of those he’s spent at Shoreline. He seems quite articulate, friendly, likable and knowledgeable. I really wouldn’t expect less from the instructor of a class in Communication Speech.
My speech class ends at 12:30, and my next class on Mondays is at 6:30, which left me with plenty of time to investigate extracurricular activities available on campus. Most interested with school clubs, I spent hours talking to various instructors and students about opportunities that relate to my activism endeavors. I’ve only begun to get my feet a little wet at this point. The school offers a wealth of opportunities, so I just have to figure out how to tap into these new resources.
The two hours of my entrepreneurship class topped off my day. This class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays, and I’m anticipating a great deal of study associated with this class. We had our basic introduction and overview of the class, and then watched a slide show presentation.
The instructor comes across as an odd mix of teacher and businessman. Actually, he come across a lot more like a businessman that also teaches. He stressed, over and over in different ways, that there’s absolutely no excuse for missing a class and that there will be absolutely no make-ups for assignments. I was particularly impressed with his disclosure that he’s the type of person that can be in business, argue and yell at the office and then go home at the end of the day and sleep like a baby…
Uhhh… how’s that supposed to make me feel? Oh. Nevermind. He apparently doesn’t care how that makes me feel. He’s just not that type of person. So, have I just signed up for a class with an instructor that somehow translates students into statistics? It’s obvious that he’s an amazing businessman and successful entrepreneur with a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge, but I keep thinking back to those business books I’ve read that encourage the you to go out and a teach class just so you can establish and distinguish yourself as an expert in your field. How many businesspeople do just that, not really caring about teaching people.
I dunno. I admit that that’s a little harsh. To be fair, I realize that my current lack of confidence is contributing more than its fair share of negativity… which is a part of why I’m taking this class. At any rate, it’ll be interesting to see how my instructor’s no bullshit approach will actually transfer over to the classroom.
Oh, one more thing about my instructor: He’s in plastics. (Have you ever watched The Graduate?)
Well, I’m out of time for now, so I’ve got to get a move on. Everything I’m trying to do right now has me feeling a little scrambled at the moment. I’m just going to try to keep my head down and focus on the few steps that are ahead of me.
