Final Exams at Southwest

Last week I gave a final exam for my Oral English classes. The exam
was really just a discussion with each student individually (5
minutes) or with a partner (10 minutes). I met with 210 students, and
each student actually talked from 7-20 minutes. I hate math, so you
calculate the time or just imagine long and often repetitive
conversations. Apparently the students are not nearly as shy when they
do not have to worry about “losing face” in front of their classmates.

This would be hell to many people. I got a kick out of it. As
students, some are great while others are sub-par, but as people they
are genuine, caring, and fun. As the semester comes to a close,
I must say that have grown to love teaching them. There is no doubt
that I am completely unqualified to be a teacher, let alone a
professor, but I have had some classes go incredibly well- others, not
so much.

Here is where I’ll get a little sentimental.

The best part of the job is that I know I am making a difference. I
try to be respectful, open, and friendly to all of my students. They
appreciate this not because I am a teacher, but I am often their first
foreign friend. After I finished chatting with one student for her
final exam, she asked to take a picture with me (about 35 other
students also asked). She said she was from a small village, where
most older people had never seen a foreigner before. As a result of
propaganda and general ignorance of the outside world, the villagers
dislike foreigners. This student said she wanted to take this picture
so she could show her village that she made a foreign friend, and he
was nice, and (most importantly) loved China. When all is said and
done, I know that I have changed a long held mindset, possibly 5000
years old, in a village in rural China.

Imagine the job satisfaction if this happened everyday. It does here
at Southwest. A variation of the situation I described above happens
to me nearly every class. All you have to do is try to be a good
person, and it is reciprocated 10 times over.