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| Our seven amazing OCs giving each elevator-full of people a hearty morning pre-quiz cheer. |
As we were headed to our classes this morning, we were met by this extremely enthusiastic cheer squad right as the elevator opened. It was our OCs giving us a noisy encouragement to do well on our quizzes, complete with hand-drawn cartoons and colored-in signs. Everyone inside the elevator jumped back in surprise and alarm.
It was a really thoughtful thing to do. I was definitely smiling/laughing nervously as I headed to class.
STILL THINKING LIKE AN RA
As some of my classmates were talking about how that episode nearly scared them to death, I was thinking about how that could have been a great thing to do for my residents as they headed for their midterms and finals. I got a bit sad thinking through the details and knowing that I was no longer a Resident Adviser, and that I could have done so much more for my residents. Even little things like these!
TAKING THE QUIZ
I headed to class and discovered that the quiz was going to be given during the first 15 minutes of class. There were groans everywhere, but I suppose this eliminated unnecessarily extending my anxieties over a quiz that only had 10 questions. The quiz only had 10 questions, yet it seemed like we studied a ton of vocabulary and simple dialogue. There was a listening and writing portion, a fill-in-the-missing-part-of-the-dialogue portion, and multiple choice. It was quite reasonable, though I did have trouble with the listening and writing part. It is not enough to listen to the Korean instructor's pronunciations because there are multiple subtle variations on how to say "o"s and "e"s. Consonants, which you'd think would hardly give anyone trouble, are also pretty tricky in Korean. For example "m"s can sound like "b"s, and "g"s can sound like "k"s, and so on. Let's not even mention the fact that, in Korean, double consonants exist, such as dd, gg, ss, which change the pronunciation and meaning of words. Don't ask.
But if you insist, I could probably explain it later or over Skype, or later.
In any case, I found that I had to look up at the instructor and zero in on the extremely-exaggerated way he was pronouncing each word to feel like I even had a standing chance. He repeated every word four times, and no more. Everything was going well until he realized that I/we were looking at his mouth and proceeded to pronounce the rest with a notebook covering his lips.
THE LONG MORNING HOURS OF KOREAN LANGUAGE LEARNING
There was a collective groan as he collected the quiz sheets. Post-quiz, I felt like all my brain power had been disproportionately allocated to the successful taking of the quiz and so I was a bit incredulous remembering that there was another three hours and 45 minutes of Korean language class ahead of me. Many yawns, back stretches, new dialogue material, and vocab words later, we were free!
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| Some of the ETAs who were cheer-attacked as we were getting out of the elevator. One of them said that they were even more nervous about taking the quiz now that the OCs had gone and encouraged them. |
MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU
Has someone ever cheered you on before a major event (quiz, test, competition, performance, graduation,...)? What did they do that left an impression on you? Were you encouraged by their thoughtful efforts, or were you made even more nervous/anxious to perform? Perhaps you were the one who did the encouraging and cheering. Share your experience in the comment box below.
I sang at the State competition once as a senior in high school. I was pretty stinkin' nervous and the comments of well-wishers sometimes made it worse. Things like, "We're so proud of you!" and "You can do it!" made me wonder how they would feel if I didn't do well. Today, as a mom, when my kids face performances of any kind, whether athletic or fine arts related, I ask them questions about how they are feeling. I try not to project my expectations onto them. I offer to pray with them for peace and that God will be glorified no matter what the outcome.
ReplyDeleteAmy, that captures what my classmates probably felt going into the quiz! The thought "what if I don't do well" can be a bit debilitating because of the high degree of expectation people may unintentionally put on you before a performance. Your approach to helping your children before performances was something I had to read at least three times. It is so different from what I have experienced and seen, and it's something that makes sense, too. I'm going to tuck this away for use in the future. Thank you!
DeleteThat was very nice what they did to you and to others, surprise and incourage you before your quiz. That was a good idea for you to do for your future student Mi.
ReplyDeleteAbout your question if someone incourage me before my test, wala wala jud! Hadlukon hinuon ko nga bunalan kong baba akong grades. Yah that was my memory, no moral support at all.
Ma, the OCs are all very nice! They're giving me some ideas of what to do for my future students, yes. One of the main advice we have received here is: "Love your students and everything else will follow." That's it. Just love your students. I am excited to work on this in the coming year, and to see in which areas I can be of help to them. I'm sorry nga wala ka naka experience og support, Ma. I'm glad that you broke away from that negative pattern. Your prayers, words of encouragement, and understanding when we think we've failed are invaluable to our continued growth.
DeleteI love your perspectives! Could you help me understand why you are calling the Korean language "Korean" instead of Hangul? Are the terms interchangeable?
ReplyDeleteHuskyGrl
Hi HuskyGrl! Thank you for passing by. Regarding your question: I have been using Korean and Hangul interchangeably in my blog posts though I don't know if this is accurate or appropriate. I am still getting used to the term "Hangul," which is probably why I have been referring to the Korean language as "Korean" in my writing. We receive daily announcements from the OCs that call our classes "Korean language classes," which I think has also made it quite natural for me to refer to it as "Korean." I will ask one of the OCs! Thank you for your question. Let me know if other ones come up!
DeleteNo one cheered me on anything growing up. I only experience being cheered by my children here in U.S. when they became more mature :)
ReplyDelete