I've mentioned before how much I love my Tribe. Nancy is one of my tribe members. Geographically she lives the closest to me, and we've shared rides to and from class several times. I'm several years older than her sons, but I think sometimes she looks at me like another one of her kids. Nancy is awesome, a complete bohemian trapped in conservative middle class suburbia and as a result we have had some really fascinating discussions.
I've been wanting to send Nancy a note for awhile just to tell her how great I think she is, so this week I took that opportunity. I sent some love and wished her luck on our upcoming assignments. We don't have class next month, which I think both of us will miss from a social standpoint but to be honest, I'm welcoming the academic break... this last semester was a rough one. I'm not sure Nancy's much of a writer, but I hope my note brings a smile to her face. I'm hoping we can grab a meal together or some library time or something to make up for missing class together next month so I don't have to wait until September to see her again!
Showing posts with label masters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label masters. Show all posts
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Letter #90 - Rosa
This project always seems to run a little Tribe-heavy when I've had a school weekend. Rosa is another Tribe Member. (for those of you just joining us, my Masters' cohort refers to ourselves as a Tribe).
I haven't had too many opportunities to work with Rosa yet, and this weekend's class made me aware of that. She and I were assigned to a group project and I realised I don't think I've ever really worked one-on-one with her yet. I made a decision to fix that next class if I have the chance.
Rosa is another one our quiet ones (we have a few), but when she does speak up it is usually something quite profound and challenging, so I love it when I see her inch up to the edge of her seat getting ready to enter the discussion. I sent her a letter after class this past weekend to let her know how much I enjoyed the chance to work on our assignment with her, and to wish her luck on the 3 papers we have due between now and our next class.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Letter #89 - Sheila
This is not my first letter to one of my classmates from my Masters program. I love my Masters program, and our Tribe is a very close-knit group who continues to dedicate itself to supporting each others' learning journeys. This past weekend was a school weekend for me, and I shared a particularly awesome experience Sheila. The experience was so awesome I felt the need to write her a letter commending her for it and thanking her for her support.
Some people just don't like speaking in large groups. They have dozens of reasons for why, it could be stage fright, it could be an issue of prep time, it could be they have a sore throat and don't want to speak up... Sheila is usually one of these people. I have worked with her in past classes on presentations, and witnessed first hand how badly she stresses, how much time she takes writing out word-for-word what she is going to present, and how she speedily reads through it in front of the class at a volume barely above a whisper. This weekend, I made Sheila my mission.
I don't typically have a problem speaking in front of large groups of people. I get nervous like anyone else, and I have times when it's the last thing I want to do, but in general, I'm pretty comfortable in front of a crowd once I get going. My educational and professional backgrounds have both enhanced this in me. When our class is assigned group presentations, I'm the one who takes the "let's talk out the basic points and just wing it" approach. This weekend I was assigned to Sheila's group, and I decided she needed a confidence boost.
As our group prepared for our presentation, Sheila kept stressing various facts from the reading she was focused on. I could see her getting more and more worked up, so I finally sat down immediately across from her and told her she needed to chill. She looked a little taken aback, which was part of my objective. I explained to her the strength of her perspective as I saw it, and tried to minimise the importance of the presentation and the grade. I also helped her craft her message so she was focused more on the story than on the facts and numbers. She seemed to settle down a little and seemed a tad more confident, though still pretty nervous. Luck would have it our group was to present last, so Sheila sat nervously through 3 other presentations and feedback sessions, waiting for her turn to speak. Then, she NAILED it. She was calm, spoke at a reasonable volume, didn't read her script, and she told the story. She still stumbled over a few of the facts she wanted to include, but she didn't freak out and lose focus when she stumbled. It was awesome.
When our group finished and the professors were giving feedback and the class was asking questions, one of our tribe members raised her hand and said "not that you didn't all do well, but I just really want to commend Sheila for the amazing job she did... what a huge improvement from the first time we ever heard her share in class!" Sheila was beaming. I was so excited for her.
My letter was pretty simple. I told her how awesome it was for me to watch her grow in skill and confidence, and reminded her of the important role she plays in our tribe.
Some people just don't like speaking in large groups. They have dozens of reasons for why, it could be stage fright, it could be an issue of prep time, it could be they have a sore throat and don't want to speak up... Sheila is usually one of these people. I have worked with her in past classes on presentations, and witnessed first hand how badly she stresses, how much time she takes writing out word-for-word what she is going to present, and how she speedily reads through it in front of the class at a volume barely above a whisper. This weekend, I made Sheila my mission.
I don't typically have a problem speaking in front of large groups of people. I get nervous like anyone else, and I have times when it's the last thing I want to do, but in general, I'm pretty comfortable in front of a crowd once I get going. My educational and professional backgrounds have both enhanced this in me. When our class is assigned group presentations, I'm the one who takes the "let's talk out the basic points and just wing it" approach. This weekend I was assigned to Sheila's group, and I decided she needed a confidence boost.
As our group prepared for our presentation, Sheila kept stressing various facts from the reading she was focused on. I could see her getting more and more worked up, so I finally sat down immediately across from her and told her she needed to chill. She looked a little taken aback, which was part of my objective. I explained to her the strength of her perspective as I saw it, and tried to minimise the importance of the presentation and the grade. I also helped her craft her message so she was focused more on the story than on the facts and numbers. She seemed to settle down a little and seemed a tad more confident, though still pretty nervous. Luck would have it our group was to present last, so Sheila sat nervously through 3 other presentations and feedback sessions, waiting for her turn to speak. Then, she NAILED it. She was calm, spoke at a reasonable volume, didn't read her script, and she told the story. She still stumbled over a few of the facts she wanted to include, but she didn't freak out and lose focus when she stumbled. It was awesome.
When our group finished and the professors were giving feedback and the class was asking questions, one of our tribe members raised her hand and said "not that you didn't all do well, but I just really want to commend Sheila for the amazing job she did... what a huge improvement from the first time we ever heard her share in class!" Sheila was beaming. I was so excited for her.
My letter was pretty simple. I told her how awesome it was for me to watch her grow in skill and confidence, and reminded her of the important role she plays in our tribe.
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