So yesterday I met up with a new student. A college student taking both accounting and math classes. She joked that she might have to stretch the session to 2 hours. She was wrong.
It was four hours. From 4:30 till 9:00.
So here's the thing. I loved every minute of it.
Absolutely it helped that she was working hard at it. She is a student who has lived with what I'd call an irrational fear of math. I say irrational because she was clearly picking things up as we went through the material.
Keep in mind that she had worked on math the previous night for six straight hours, up past midnight, trying to understand. Once she had a teacher at her side to smooth over the bumps, she began to roll.
She even used the word "fun" after we'd been at it for three hours. The excitement of finally going beyond mere (and horribly boring) memorization of the formulas - the excitement of finally understanding where they came from, why they made sense, and how easy the problems really were after that - overrode what surely must have been a dwindling tank of mental energy. In fact, it might have refueled that tank.
As a supervisor I used to say to people trying to build their career path: Find a need and fill it.
There is a vast unmet need for math students. God's given me the gift of filling that need. This is why a four hour tutoring session late into the night leaves me energized, and a single hour of insurance overtime tended to be draining. The light in her eyes as she progressed was brightening me along with it. Without passing this class, she might have to drop out of school. Now she has a chance.
This is my mission field. Occasionally there are long or rocky straightaways, but nothing compared to the fire of enthusiasm.
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