Just The Beginning

Over the past week or so, during blog posting time and one-on-one conferencing, I’ve been encouraging you all to think about the way you learn.  It is my hope, that the realizations you draw from my prompting, will help you in your college career here at Columbia.  I believe that students who don’t understand their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to learning often struggle more than those who do.  For instance, some of you know you struggle with organization.  This is a difficulty you’ll have to overcome in college, but not an impossible one.  If you understand this about yourself, you’ll be more apt to consciously work at adjusting your methods, which will hopefully lead to success.  Understanding my strengths and weaknesses as a bridge instructor is a rather similar idea.

As I’ve hopefully helped you discover a little about the way you learn and your strengths and weaknesses, I’ve learned a little about myself as well.  I’ve discovered a lot about the kind of teacher I am, and the kind I hope to be.  You’ve given me insight into the kind of speakers you enjoy and the ones that make you fall asleep, the kind of trips and activities that excite and/or bore you, and the kind of topics you find most engaging to write about.  A good teacher is constantly morphing his or her teaching style to fit the learning styles of his or her students.  Teaching, in my opinion, is always a bit of an experiment or a puzzle.  We’re trying to figure out what piece fits where, or what variables bring about the desired results. 

This is my first time working with the bridge program and it has been an extremely rewarding experience.  I don’t think Brad and I could have asked for a better group of students, and I’ve met some of the most creative and inspiring young men and women here this summer.  You all have such great potential, and such large ideas.  I’ve been so impressed by the questions you’ve asked, the observations you’ve made, and the connections you’ve drawn.  If you keep this up, your future Writing and Rhetoric teachers will be just as impressed.

When the fall semester starts, it isn’t going to be easy.  You are going to be asked to do a lot and may occasionally feel overwhelmed.  However, I feel you are all capable of rising to the occasion.  Graduation is within reach if you continue to put the kind of efforts into your classes as you have into bridge.   After Thursday, once you’ve presented the artistic interpretations of your papers and eaten your delicious cupcakes, I hope you can feel a sense of pride in all that you’ve accomplished these past four weeks.  However, I also encourage you to stay humble, and remember that the road ahead will not be easy.  Bridge is just the beginning.