Finals Week

I am always learning

Finals week. Today I have spent most of my time on campus grading papers and exams. Student's faces passing by are filled with tension and empty of smiles. I have been a part of the education system in some form or another for the vast majority of my life. I am no stranger to the intensity and stress that comes along with the close of each school year. Each time they come the stakes seem high and there is a sense of finality with everything that is happening. Sink or swim, do or die - perhaps part of the intensity comes from naming it Finals. I think I am going to start calling it transition week or something entirely different instead.

I believe life to be an ongoing learning process. It is an opportunity to realize my potential. That realization is never a finished product, it is a circular process of growth that does not have a determined end point. The classroom experience is special to me because it is an opportunity for me to engage with others and explore new ideas in a safe place. To take those ideas and experiment with them in a way that allows for mistakes, self-reflection, and the application of those ideas into my own unique journey.

To me education is valuable not in what is memorized but in the ability to open my eyes and see more of the world- not just the world around me, but the one inside myself as well as how it is experienced by those around me. I cringe at the idea that the word Finals might indicate to some that when the exams are over the learning process stops. A big part of choosing to study and teach has been in the value ideas have brought to me. It is not because I have finally mastered anything, but that I am committed to learning and growing in the areas where I am weak.

I have learning opportunities in and out of the classroom each day if I allow myself to see them. Today I choose to see learning as a cycle, an ongoing process that will continue to challenge me. Each test is an opportunity to assess where I am on my journey. My grades will not be an indication of success or failure, and they do not mark the end, they are merely a chance to see where I am headed and what corrections can be made along my path.