The Final
Yesterday was my final in a class I’ve been taking. I don’t remember if I mentioned that taking a college class with a bunch of 18–21-year-olds is quite an experience. These young adults walk into class, a large percentage of them with ear pods in their ear, focused on their phones. We sit down, and like most regular gatherings, in the same seat we picked on the first day. They continue to look at their phones until class starts (and some during class).
Having come from the business world where meetings had two purposes: First was the subject of the meeting; secondly was an opportunity to develop or maintain relationships with your peers or higher ups. So, I’m uncomfortable sitting in the classroom silently waiting for the professor to start. This means slowly (I don’t want to scare them off like seeing a deer on the road), I try to engage them in conversation.
I start by saying hello to those near me (and then on a every class visit after that). After a while of that, I attempt to look for something to ask one of them. This class, a history class, I asked one of the history majors across the room - based on their classroom experience - if there was a higher percentage of males as history majors than females. He didn’t think so but after everyone arrived, I calculated 30% more males than females in the class (13 males to 10 females). He didn’t like my calculation preferring a proportion of the total comparison (57% male, 43% female). We were both right, it just depends on how you phrase the answer. At least it got us talking.
Slowly, I incorporated other students into the “before class” banter. I found out which ones were history majors (and a graphic design major and a prelaw major), which ones were planning on student teaching, which ones were married and that didn’t even
include the more interesting conversations I’d have sitting outside of the History department (I arrived early to read the paper).
Anyway, yesterday was the final exam. Everyone was there at least 10 minutes early (nerves). Almost all of us were talking about miscellaneous things such as whether anyone had gotten a grade on the last paper submitted or what they estimated they had to get on the final to get the grade they wanted and even expressing remorse that that was the final time we would all be together in that room for that class. Maybe this would have happened anyway just by everyone getting to know each other over the semester but I felt a little proud that I could be a part of fostering relationships with and between the students.
When I finished my 5 pages of essay writing and handed it to the professor, I told him that I’d like to know how I did but since I’m auditing the class, he could do that after his hard deadline of grading all the paying students grades (I think he has less than a week to get everything graded for all the classes he’s teaching and submit the grades). He said he would then he shook my hand and told me it was a pleasure having me in his class. That also gave me a great amount of pride (I’m opinionated, and I know it).
After all this explanation, I have a confession to make. I have to force myself to do all that. I’m very much an introvert and my natural tendency is to sit quietly in a corner and just watch people. The larger the group, the harder it is for me to extend myself socially. That’s just how God made me.
I grew up with the motto that “God helps those that help themselves.” I’ve come to depend on that and believe that God puts me in situations so that I can grow.
“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of other.” - Philippians 2:4 ESV
“…bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” - Colossians 3:13 ESV
“And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” - Ecclesiastes 4:12 ESV
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.” - Ecclesiastes 4:9 ESV
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,- " Romans 5:3 ESV
