This week or rather the past two weeks were rewarding in a different way. Not like last week. Not like the way one would think what the word rewarding means. A schoolteacher from one of the schools said ‘I’ve never seen the students as happy as they were today’ after one of the sessions. Now, was it that the happiness of the students was rewarding? Or was it that the internal satisfaction that students are able to engage in something they genuinely find interesting was rewarding? I don’t know- but it was what it was. A sense of completion. Not that the work or the activities had concluded but more so that the expectation that we had promised ourselves to stand up to was on its way to fruiting- the expectation that we would be able to engage students in a meaningful way for both their enjoyment and their learning.
The next thing. I got the opportunity to sit and think about what I was doing. Usually when you read such a phrase in some book- ‘to sit and think about what I am doing’, you would imagine a guy alone penning down a reflection blog in some solitary room with a candle light maybe. At least that is what I think of when somebody tells me they sat alone and thought about their work. But I got the opportunity to do that in a group. To do that with my mates. And this was throughout every single meeting, every single gathering. We appreciated what we were doing.
The other thing was the writing of the actual research paper started. I don’t know but when this step was trod upon- suddenly- there was this sense of finality. A finality I was not uncomfortable with. Often times pleasant experiences do leave a sense of nostalgia. You look back with fondness wishing to return back to that time. I don’t think September has been such an experience. It has been more than pleasant, but I am happier to feel that progress has been made. That I have learnt something from the community I worked with. That I could contribute my little insignificant bit to the community I worked with. I am happy to stay with that feeling. And I don’t want to give that feeling away.
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