Participation

Two of my distinguished classmates; Aaron and Brad.




For the past three years I have been working on my Masters in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages). The classes have been part-time, twice a year in January and July since 2006. Usually we have 2-4 weeks where we complete around 4-8 credit hours of class. These have been some of the most stressful times of my life. One of the ways that I cope with the pressure is by talking a lot in class.
Some of you have never had a class with me, but the former statement probably doesn’t surprise you because you know that I talk a lot out of class, so why would I talk less in class? I would like to say that I only share relevant things that I think everyone can benefit from in our discussions, but the truth is, I think that I’m really smart and I like the sound of my own voice.
This past January we had a class called “Intercultural Communication.” I was practically salivating at the thought of participating in these discussions, and Dr. Moreau did not disappoint. There was another student in the class named Ben who works in China. Now Ben is not like me, because he actually is smart and the other students enjoy hearing his insights. One day a group of my friends decided to place bets on which one of us would talk more in the next day’s class. Every comment translated into a tally mark and at the end of the class, the man with the most tallies wins. I guess it was a close race, I got off to a slow start and Ben pulled ahead. Around 3/4’s into the class though I came roaring back and took the lead. We were neck and neck at the finish, with me up by one tally when...

Ben asked a final clarification question about the homework and took the crown.

I guess real life doesn’t always have happy endings.