A temporary idyll amid emptying classrooms

[edg]

It probably does not bode well
that the predominant feeling
that I get from my classmates
is that they would prefer
that I not be
there.

Comments

[cpip.livejournal.com]

And how much of that, pray tell, is merely your own inner voices whispering, and how much is them actually telling you, "Yo. Buddy. Get outta Indiana 'fore we get the tar 'n' feathers?"

[bestspecialgirl.livejournal.com]

What is making you feel that way?

[phosphodae.livejournal.com]

Talking about Poetry? I think people are just thrown that you have something to say. You look like the quiet type, and then you speak [!], and it's usually something no one's thought of yet. They're just digesting your words.

Anyway, I like you there. =]

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

Bah! Fools! Anytime you're in the Southern Ontario area, I'll let you know just how appreciated you are. *nods*

[seraphmoon.livejournal.com]

How much of an age difference is there between you and your classmates? The age range in my class is from about fifty to eighteen, and I'm not having that much of a problem - but then again, there are sixteen people in my class.

When I was at culinary school, even though the age range was about the same there was a lot of grouping along age lines simply because there were a hell of a lot more people. I was only twenty-one and I still felt excluded sometimes.

But whatever the reason, don't sweat it. In fact, screw them and their petty little narrow-minded cliquety ways. If they feel weird having you there, then that's their problem and not yours. Similarly, if they forget their books then it's their problem, not yours. Letting them look over your shoulder is fine up to a point - but it's not your job to take care of them.

That's me, of course. I'm a very mean person and I really don't give a damn anymore about whether people like or want to have me in class. If they do, it's nice, and if they don't, it's fine; I'm there to learn and I'm going to do it.

And that's the cheese of it: what are you in class for, and will their feelings and personal preferences have any effect on that?

[mnair.livejournal.com]

I had a similar experience when I was in Yokohama for a language course. The other participants in the course were all rich kids from ivy league schools. This program was expensive, but I was the only one paying for the program with my own money. That combined with the fact that I hadn't gone to an ivy league school separated us. I felt very isolated.
But none of that had anything to do with why I was there. It was lonely for a little while, but I was there to study and I concentrated on that. Eventually I made friends with like-minded people.
Do not let close-minded people distract you from your goals.