Six young ladies and Gannet sharing a hot tub. The girls are lovely and youthful in their bikinis and they quickly forget the middle-aged woman in their midst.
The first conversation is all about illegal immigrants, generally referred to as "they." The girls, two of whom are from California, seem to be most troubled by the reality, as they see it, that if "they" aren't allowed in, who will do the jobs that "they" do, the jobs that have become "Mexican jobs?" And further, "what about when "they" get into law school and med school and "we" don't?
The conversation is increasingly peppered with refereneces to Catholic school -- elementary, high school, and the university that the young women, from all over the country, attend. I start to wonder if anything about their Catholic education ever "took." I wonder even more when they start talking about how little they care about college.
Then more inconsistencies of youth take over. They hate lecture classes, using them mostly to do other homework. (I'm with you there, ladies.) They learn by far the most in their discussion sections. But they can't imagine the education that one of their classmates had, one of those "weird" schools where there are no lectures, no textbooks, no worksheets, where discussion is the order of the day. (The kind of school my children attended through eighth grade.)
They all send their papers home to their parents to proofread. (Now I am really laughing -- internally -- as I recall a certain mom in my teaching career who was livid when her child got a B- on a rewrite paper in my class -- a paper that, as the conversation developed, it became clear the mom had written. )
I am always after my daughter to get semi-colon and comma rules straight. But at least I seldom see her papers and then long after they've been graded. And I'm kind of glad her articulate and passionate self wasn't there for the family holiday dinner last year when an uncle and cousin went off on the immigrant issue.
I'm pretty happy about her weird education.
The first conversation is all about illegal immigrants, generally referred to as "they." The girls, two of whom are from California, seem to be most troubled by the reality, as they see it, that if "they" aren't allowed in, who will do the jobs that "they" do, the jobs that have become "Mexican jobs?" And further, "what about when "they" get into law school and med school and "we" don't?
The conversation is increasingly peppered with refereneces to Catholic school -- elementary, high school, and the university that the young women, from all over the country, attend. I start to wonder if anything about their Catholic education ever "took." I wonder even more when they start talking about how little they care about college.
Then more inconsistencies of youth take over. They hate lecture classes, using them mostly to do other homework. (I'm with you there, ladies.) They learn by far the most in their discussion sections. But they can't imagine the education that one of their classmates had, one of those "weird" schools where there are no lectures, no textbooks, no worksheets, where discussion is the order of the day. (The kind of school my children attended through eighth grade.)
They all send their papers home to their parents to proofread. (Now I am really laughing -- internally -- as I recall a certain mom in my teaching career who was livid when her child got a B- on a rewrite paper in my class -- a paper that, as the conversation developed, it became clear the mom had written. )
I am always after my daughter to get semi-colon and comma rules straight. But at least I seldom see her papers and then long after they've been graded. And I'm kind of glad her articulate and passionate self wasn't there for the family holiday dinner last year when an uncle and cousin went off on the immigrant issue.
I'm pretty happy about her weird education.
I am following the primaries on my trips inside from the beach and hot tub. CNN just reported record-breaking numbers of college voters in the Texas primary. Now I'm REALLY wondering how this will all turn out. I think it's incredibly exciting, regardless of your politics.
4 comments:
The turnout is incredibly exciting! I'm bummed that I'm not at my usual post as election judge today due to the flu.
Regardless of who is selected as the Democratic candidate for the general election, I hope the interest remains high and we have a record-breaking turnout in November, too.
your trip sounds wonderful, even with the ankle set back. May birds continue to allow you to see them.
I am staying SO out of the election mess this time around. Don't have a preference among the Democratic candidates. Either one will get my vote when the time comes.
What happened to the days when children were taught how to write, spell, punctuate...IN PRIMARY SCHOOL? Perhaps if that practice had continued, college students wouldn't feel the need to have parents proof-read their papers.
To be a fly on the wall with a group of high school or college students sound like an absolutely delicious way to while away some vacation time. I'd love to do it myself.
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