Questionnaired!

Fall semester: day twenty

One of my students sent me an email this morning containing a questionnaire.

Note: this in itself isn't particularly unusual (at least not for me, anyway), especially coming from my students who are athletes for the school, or, occasionally, communications majors; many of them have assignments for their various classes that ask them to interview one of their professors, and as I'm generally the most, well, interesting professor they'll have during any given semester, I'm interviewed or questioned for these students' classes at least once or twice a semester. I really don't mind it at all; to the contrary, I think it's fun. If I'm not interviewed or questioned, I usually have to fill out a form or two (especially if I have a lot of student athletes) that say how the student is doing in my class, good or bad. The athletics department keeps their kids on task with these progress reports, and keeps them performing well both in academics as well as within the athletics program, something that I think is nothing short of revolutionary.

Keep in mind that when I was a student at WVU, the football/basketball players for the school were consistently looked upon as some of the less intelligent/capable students at the university. I had the pleasure of, while an undergraduate student there, taking a sociology class with a rather famous football player who has since gone on to play in the NFL for several teams (so, of course, he will remain nameless here), and he was dumb as a rock. Here at Flat State University, it's almost the exact opposite -- the student athletes I've had in my time as an English instructor, for the most part, have been some of the most intelligent students in my classes, with very few (if any) exceptions.

So, when I got the emailed questionnaire this morning from one of my student athletes, I wasn't exactly surprised. But the questions were shockingly (pun intended, if you know where I attend school) intimate, especially for one of these assignments. When I read through them, I thought to myself that this will so make an awesome blog post. At the very least, I hope it will be interesting for you to read. Below, as you will see, is the questionnaire I was given, with my honest responses. These are the same responses I have emailed to my student, so it's not like I could be racy or anything along those lines in them. So, let's get down to it:

1. What is your full name and title? Where are you from originally? How long have you been teaching at [school]?
Three questions in one, hm? Okay. My name is Brandon [last name redacted, of course, for the purposes of this blog]; I don't have any sort of honorary title (that I know of, anyhow) aside from Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA). I'm originally from Morgantown, West Virginia, and I have been teaching at [school] since fall semester 2010, making this my third semester as an English instructor.

2. What is your educational/professional background?
I received my Bachelor's of Arts in English and Creative Writing from West Virginia University in 2005. Amongst other professional endeavors, I was a laboratory technician/assistant in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology at WVU throughout my entire college career and for some time after graduation, paid the bills for three years afterwards by working in grocery retail, and eventually got to fulfill one of my lifelong goals of becoming a newspaper reporter/journalist for The Newton Kansan for over a year as well. I joined [school's] MFA program in 2010 as a way not only to finally get my Master's degree, but to further my writing skills and give me a source of steady employment/paychecks for three years (yes, we do get paid for teaching you folks).

3. At what age did you first become interested in your field/occupation and why?
If you choose to call my field "writing," then I've been interested in it my entire life, because I've been writing since an early age. It just came naturally to me, and still does. If you choose to call my field "teaching," then I've become progressively more interested in it throughout my graduate school career, simply because I can do it well (or, at least, I'd like to think I can). I've always considered myself a natural showman, a leader, etc. If I weren't teaching, I probably would have gone into stand-up comedy.

4. What were you like as a college student? What were your expectations about college? How did they differ from reality?
In my undergraduate career (over ten years ago now), I was probably a lot like most of you folks for the most part -- new to the entire system, new to this whole thing called "real life," and was trying to work through it the best way I knew how, making mistakes and (sometimes) learning from them, etc. As for my expectations about college itself, I didn't really have any aside from the fact that I assumed that getting a degree would immediately make me hire-able and desired in the job market after graduation -- especially in West Virginia, where a large percentage of the general population in most towns and cities have never gone to college and hold no certification or degree past a high school diploma. I had my expectations dashed upon graduation, however, when I found that I was either vastly overqualified for most places who were hiring, or vastly underqualified for any sort of job that would actually pay a wage one could fully live on. I found that the educational system, at least there, gave me false hopes in the sense that there's no true middle ground for employment after you exit it -- one would either end up working in retail or other unskilled labor, or one would need a more advanced degree than a simple Bachelor's in order to survive in a much more complex job market than I, as a man freshly graduated from college, was led to believe while an undergraduate student.

5. Was there a particular professor or instructor who was instrumental in your development? Describe what was special or interesting about this person or persons.
I had several excellent professors in my undergraduate career, most of whom are now retired or have gone on to larger schools/more important callings in life. My British/American lit professors taught me the value of classic literature, my creative writing professors taught me how to refine my skills and craft, and my sociology and religious studies professors taught me to question everything in life down to the smallest detail. When combined, I think all of these professors have helped to shape the way I think and look at the world. I'm not sure this completely answers your question, but it's the closest thing to an answer I can give.

6. What has been different since you graduated from college from what you imagined while you were in school?
See question 4.

7. Why did you choose to teach at [school]?
Truthfully? Because it means I don't have to pay graduate student tuition for my MFA education here (when we choose to teach, we get a waiver for that), and because it gives me a paycheck. It's not a big paycheck by any means, but it's a paycheck. I was surprised, however, to find out how much I would love (and revel in) teaching, and it's become one of the most gratifying, fulfilling experiences of my adult life.

8. What does your position at [school] include?
Basically, what you've already seen or have been shown by being one of my students. I teach two sections of English every semester, whether those sections are 101, 102, or a specialized class (like the Science/Engineering 102 class you're in). Obviously, that includes all the work that teaching entails, from creating lesson plans, handouts, and timelines, to lecturing and grading, keeping office hours, and everything in-between. As GTAs we have very little administrative power, so we do have "bosses" of sorts that we report to as well. Other than that? We do get a pretty good health insurance plan we can opt to take part in on a semester-by-semester basis, but no real other benefits. Of course, my position here also entails being a student myself, so as a graduate student I take at least nine hours of high-level classes per semester (usually 700-level or higher), for which I must write very large, intricate papers and/or read many, many texts -- I sometimes read 800 pages a week just for my own classes, and no, that's not an exaggeration by any means. It's a busy life; there's always something to be done, trust me.

9. What are your research interests?
I'm a graduate student getting my Creative Writing MFA in Poetry. I don't research anything that I'm not absolutely forced to; I simply write. I don't even like *reading* poetry, I just write it.

10. What are your interests and hobbies?
Many, many nerdy things. I collect comic books and comic-related things. I still purchase and play through every new Pokemon game, despite the fact that I'm nearly thirty. I own and play an electric guitar, and appreciate a wide variety of music. I spend a lot of my free time writing, whether professionally or for fun, and I have three cats who are, effectively, my children. I probably love those cats (as well as my speedy, but beat-up car) more than any girlfriend or wife I would ever hope to acquire. Yep, that's me in a nutshell.

11. What is your philosophy of teaching?
Hoo boy, that's a loaded question. My main philosophy has always been something I could sum up in a simple sentence, though: I want my students to enjoy class and have fun within it, but to leave it having learned at least something, if not a lot of things that will help them throughout the rest of their undergraduate career, if not life in general. I keep my classes rather laid-back, because most of the time I think that is the best sort of learning environment for most students -- especially freshmen -- who are brought down and/or depressed by the wholly serious or otherwise impersonal classroom environments (such as those huge lecture hall classes) they'll experience during their collective college careers. Most of my students are not English majors, or have a distaste for English courses after the ones they were forced to sit through in high school, so I take this into account and try to give my students not only a class they will enjoy, but the most important things they'll need to learn with the subject matter involved. If I can do that, I can sleep better at night knowing that I've accomplished something.

12. What is the most important advice you can give an incoming freshman?
Oh, dear sir, I have a list:
a.) It gets better, trust me. Freshman year at any university is rough, I won't lie, but don't quit. Do your best. Getting a "C" in a class is a mark of honor for some of those classes you'll take, so hang in there. Believe me, the real world is much worse in comparison.
b.) Get out of your house/dorm room, have some fun, make friends, and start relationships with the opposite sex. In essence, live the college life. Experience a party. Eat some really bad-for-you food on a frequent basis. Drive around town, explore. Wichita is a vibrant city, full of interesting people/places/entertainment venues if you know where to look. When you've heard people say that your college years are the most formative years of your life, they weren't kidding.
c.) Despite that, don't shirk your responsibilities. Do your work, turn it in on time, and always do it to the best of your ability. Don't rush things; take the time you need to get your work done, even if it means you have to skip that party I mentioned previously. Remember above all that you are here for an education first and foremost, and that you are entitled to nothing -- you must work for all you will accomplish in life, and that includes college. We are encouraged to remind students that we as instructors and professors don't fail students for poor performance, they fail themselves.
d.) There will always be someone who is smarter than you are; this is something everyone should and generally does learn quickly as a college student -- no longer will you be the most intelligent, charming, or witty person around, possibly not even in your circle of new friends. This may sound disheartening, but it's true. Roll with it; spend time focusing on your strengths, as doing so will only benefit you in the future.
e.) Protect yourself and be careful, and I mean that in more ways than the most obvious one; let's just say that getting stabbed, raped, or robbed aren't fun, and having children tends to complicate things. Refer once more to point C.
f.) If you must work during college to pay the bills and not starve, again, refer to point C. Remember, you more than likely don't want to work that sort of job for the rest of your life, and if you do, why are you in college in the first place?
g.) Respect your fellow students, as well as your instructors. Do not allow yourself to become bitter, condescending, or arrogant, as doing so only breeds more negativity in the world. Similarly, do not allow yourself to fall into despair or depression. If you find yourself doing so, refer to point B.


So there you have it, folks, my entire graduate school career (as well as some incredibly important, pertinent advice) laid out for you. Interesting, no?