The weeks flew by, and before Arya knew it, the time had come to begin having one on one meetings with her darling students. In LAS 399, they had been instructed that these would not begin until Week 7, but she knew that classes really started to pick up around Week 6. Hence, Arya began her meetings early, in Week 4. She had also noticed that her students were quite a chatty bunch and thought that the stipulated 10 minute meetings wouldn't be enough for most of them. The schedule she handed out for them had 30 minute slots when she would be sitting in Starbucks at the Union just to talk to them.
Arya's first meeting was by far the longest- it lasted for over an hour! This student had a strong academic background and kept it up at school, but had such a turbulent personal life that Arya was at a total loss for a response. She quickly realized that the student just wanted to open up and talk to her, but the fact that someone so young had to shoulder and go through so much was mind boggling! None of the other meetings were quite as dramatic and while some were as short as 15 minutes, the average was closer to 45 minutes long!
One student mentioned that they were having trouble managing their time, and staying organized and on top of things. In response, Arya pulled out one of her most favorite and trusted possessions- her planner. Having been instructed to use a planner since the third grade, this was no big deal to Arya and in no time the student had a better picture of how to deal with the shortage of time they were faced with. In the next class session, before Arya began the lesson, the student pulled out their planner and demonstrated how they had organized it with colors and sticky notes.
While many of the other LAS 101 interns complained about the time commitment necessitated by these one on one meetings, these were perhaps Arya's favorite part. Not only did the extensive amount of time she spent with her students give Arya better insight into her students, and made her students more comfortable with her, Arya felt as though it was an important part of "community-building" among the interns. The long hours spent in Courtyard Cafe, chatting between students, complaining about being stood up, comparing classes, behaviors, and teaching approaches... it was during this time that Arya felt that there was a stronger sense of solidarity between all the interns. At the end of the one on one process, Arya had become such a regular at Starbucks that her friends would stop by to see her there and were very confused to not find her there!
What Arya learned most from these interviews was the importance of this class in the lives of so many of her students. As a freshman, Arya felt that she had slipped right into college and did not necessarily need help with the transition. However, this was not the case for everyone, and only when her students told her that this was probably their most helpful class this semester did she realize how much of an impact LAS 101 had on their lives. In that moment, Arya was startled to realize that if LAS 101 had such a large impact on their lives, then she too must have an impact on them.
Arya's first meeting was by far the longest- it lasted for over an hour! This student had a strong academic background and kept it up at school, but had such a turbulent personal life that Arya was at a total loss for a response. She quickly realized that the student just wanted to open up and talk to her, but the fact that someone so young had to shoulder and go through so much was mind boggling! None of the other meetings were quite as dramatic and while some were as short as 15 minutes, the average was closer to 45 minutes long!
One student mentioned that they were having trouble managing their time, and staying organized and on top of things. In response, Arya pulled out one of her most favorite and trusted possessions- her planner. Having been instructed to use a planner since the third grade, this was no big deal to Arya and in no time the student had a better picture of how to deal with the shortage of time they were faced with. In the next class session, before Arya began the lesson, the student pulled out their planner and demonstrated how they had organized it with colors and sticky notes.
While many of the other LAS 101 interns complained about the time commitment necessitated by these one on one meetings, these were perhaps Arya's favorite part. Not only did the extensive amount of time she spent with her students give Arya better insight into her students, and made her students more comfortable with her, Arya felt as though it was an important part of "community-building" among the interns. The long hours spent in Courtyard Cafe, chatting between students, complaining about being stood up, comparing classes, behaviors, and teaching approaches... it was during this time that Arya felt that there was a stronger sense of solidarity between all the interns. At the end of the one on one process, Arya had become such a regular at Starbucks that her friends would stop by to see her there and were very confused to not find her there!
What Arya learned most from these interviews was the importance of this class in the lives of so many of her students. As a freshman, Arya felt that she had slipped right into college and did not necessarily need help with the transition. However, this was not the case for everyone, and only when her students told her that this was probably their most helpful class this semester did she realize how much of an impact LAS 101 had on their lives. In that moment, Arya was startled to realize that if LAS 101 had such a large impact on their lives, then she too must have an impact on them.
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