For 4 weeks, I have been back on campus delivering lectures and interacting with students in person.
One student I was speaking to told me he had a phobia of maths. It was a major obstacle for him in studying economics. Whilst he enjoyed the theory aspects, he feared he wouldn’t be good enough to pass the course given the maths content.
To his credit, he told me he was seeking extra help and had allocated daily time to focus on the maths elements.
I spoke to another student 3 weeks ago about presenting a project in front of the class. She told me that she hadn’t done any in person presentations in 2 years. She felt very nervous and wondered if she could create a recording instead. She didn’t believe she would be good enough if presenting live.
I spoke to her again this week and she told me that she was trying to practice at home and intended recruiting some friends to be a warm audience whilst she built up her confidence.
It felt rewarding to be encouraging these students and I firmly believe the actions they are taking; being proactive and practicing, will result in improvement for them.
Yesterday, after work, I was talking to my sister and she remarked that I hadn’t posted many blogs lately.
I agreed. I told her I was busy and didn’t have enough time to produce anything that would be good enough to post.
When I heard my own words, I realised I needed to take inspiration from my students.
Taking action and practicing helps us all improve!
Feature Image Credit: Estúdio Bloom via Unsplash.com
Sinead Huskisson 