New Kid at School
So I went to my first non-gym related post-college class last night. It's been so long that I actually had to ask Julia whether I was allowed to eat and drink in class. She reminded me that I could, but best to avoid items wrapped in crinkly paper.
I have 22 other classmates of whom 20 are international students. We had to go around the room and say our names, where we're from, and where we live now. There were only three of us from the U.S. but I thought it sounded cheezy to say "I'm from the United States" so I just said I was from Michigan. That seemed good enough. I guess the whole point was to try to remember who lives close to you so that we could form groups of six for the final presentation. My immediate thought was - UGH, GROSS. I HATE TEAMWORK. I really do. Kate does too and we suspect that it's because our parents sent us to Montessorri private schools where they emphasize individuality and being personally responsible for all your own work so basically teamwork just makes us anxious because now you got to trust the other guys to do your work and really, you could do it by yourself - BETTER THAN ALL OF THEM, of course.
Anyway, I was really nervous because it turned out that the two idiots sitting behind me lived closest to me. Of course. There was one guy in particular who was really bad, who I'll refer to as "WCA" aka the "Wilshire Corridor Asswipe." He was such a stupid obnoxious know-it-all, who had really no idea what the hell he was talking about. Case in point, the instructor started to talk about about "research" and I could hear him mutter, "uh huh, yep, R & D, research and development." And then the teacher asked a question and WCA suddenly shouts out "DEVELOPMENT!" even though it had nothing to do with the question and even less to do with the answer. I wish I could explain to you how far off base that was. Also, he was the only one who went on and on about where he went to school and how many degrees he had, blah blah blah, when we introduced ourselves. And he and the other asswipe kept giggling and laughing through the entire three hour class. Yes. Three hours. Nonstop snickering. And the very first thing he did as he walked out the class room door - not even the building door, mind you - was light up a CIGAR. Ass.Wipe.
So anyway, when it came time to form groups and WCA was asking around the room who lived in the nearby area I kept my mouth shut. Yup. No way in hell was I gonna get stuck in the same group with WCA. So now I've joined the West LA Group. It'll be a bit more of drive for me, but hopefully we can just meet before or after class on campus. I can't remember their names but there's the Lebanese Guy, the Brazilian Girl, the Thai Girl, the Portuguese/French Girl, and the Girl with Purple Hair. And me. The Chinese Anal Retentive Montessori Schooled Goody Two Shoes Teacher's Pet Nerdy Girl from Michigan. Seriously. The second I walked in, I had to fight the urge to raise my hand to answer every. single. question. And sit in the front row. I suddenly morphed into Reese Witherspoon from Election. Minus the loafers of course.
I have 22 other classmates of whom 20 are international students. We had to go around the room and say our names, where we're from, and where we live now. There were only three of us from the U.S. but I thought it sounded cheezy to say "I'm from the United States" so I just said I was from Michigan. That seemed good enough. I guess the whole point was to try to remember who lives close to you so that we could form groups of six for the final presentation. My immediate thought was - UGH, GROSS. I HATE TEAMWORK. I really do. Kate does too and we suspect that it's because our parents sent us to Montessorri private schools where they emphasize individuality and being personally responsible for all your own work so basically teamwork just makes us anxious because now you got to trust the other guys to do your work and really, you could do it by yourself - BETTER THAN ALL OF THEM, of course.
Anyway, I was really nervous because it turned out that the two idiots sitting behind me lived closest to me. Of course. There was one guy in particular who was really bad, who I'll refer to as "WCA" aka the "Wilshire Corridor Asswipe." He was such a stupid obnoxious know-it-all, who had really no idea what the hell he was talking about. Case in point, the instructor started to talk about about "research" and I could hear him mutter, "uh huh, yep, R & D, research and development." And then the teacher asked a question and WCA suddenly shouts out "DEVELOPMENT!" even though it had nothing to do with the question and even less to do with the answer. I wish I could explain to you how far off base that was. Also, he was the only one who went on and on about where he went to school and how many degrees he had, blah blah blah, when we introduced ourselves. And he and the other asswipe kept giggling and laughing through the entire three hour class. Yes. Three hours. Nonstop snickering. And the very first thing he did as he walked out the class room door - not even the building door, mind you - was light up a CIGAR. Ass.Wipe.
So anyway, when it came time to form groups and WCA was asking around the room who lived in the nearby area I kept my mouth shut. Yup. No way in hell was I gonna get stuck in the same group with WCA. So now I've joined the West LA Group. It'll be a bit more of drive for me, but hopefully we can just meet before or after class on campus. I can't remember their names but there's the Lebanese Guy, the Brazilian Girl, the Thai Girl, the Portuguese/French Girl, and the Girl with Purple Hair. And me. The Chinese Anal Retentive Montessori Schooled Goody Two Shoes Teacher's Pet Nerdy Girl from Michigan. Seriously. The second I walked in, I had to fight the urge to raise my hand to answer every. single. question. And sit in the front row. I suddenly morphed into Reese Witherspoon from Election. Minus the loafers of course.
posted by S at 4:53 PM
5 Comments:
You know, I have so many thoughts about your post that I don't know where to start. First of all, I don't understand. You're anal retentive Chinese nerdy montessori school nerd thing doesn't work for me--I see you much clearer as Chinese girl who eats cheeseburgers while she sits and watches I love Lucy reruns. Nerdy anal retentive doesn't even sound like you are talking about you. More like afraid of rats, likes to take naps, and girl that everyone likes. And eats cheeseburgers and watches I Love Lucy reruns. Yeah. That sounds more like you.
NOT that I don't agree that WCA does sound like someone to stay away from. I hate those kind of people too.
Teamwork--you know, when I was younger, before college, I agreed with your teamwork philosophy--I hated it. And I don't think my dislike of it stemmed from montessori school. I knew I could do it better myself and all those dummies that I had to work in groups with were only HOLDING ME BACK! But, when I got to Michigan, it was rough my first year (remember when I got stuck in that group in my chem class with BRANDON--yeah, you must somewhere remember Brandon--he was the teammate from hell who lived above us) and he went home one night and changed our whole report (it was his job to hand it in) and then we got a C on it, and I thought he was an asshole and a moron and single-handedly brought down our grade? Yeah. But after that experience, in some of my later chem classes--it was all teamwork, all the way--and I really learned the value of having a team. As long as everyone is competent, you can accomplish something a lot bigger and better with more people working on it--in less time.
Are you taking a business class? What are you taking again??
You know, you're right. I should really give the whole teamwork thing a chance, especially since everyone in the class is probably there cuz they want to take it, rather than it being a requirement. And I do remember BRANDON - blue hair BRANDON, right?
Yeah, I'm taking a business class. A fun one, not something boring like finance or accounting.
And you are sweet! I can't believe you remember I like to watch I Love Lucy reruns. hehe. In all honesty though, I've probably gotten much more anal retentive since I started working. Sadly, I think it has something to do with...working.
I laughed out loud when I read the part about turning into Reese Witherspoon from "Election." I just finished taking a UCLA Extension class and found that same urge rising at the beginning. I found myself consciously making a point to ask what I considered intelligent questions about the material as opposed to endless "So what is our next assignment?" and "How do you grade us?"
There was a really sweet girl from our alma mater who had a teacher’s pet quality. The instructor asked her to collect the class review forms due to her perfect attendance record, and she baked these amazing cookies for the last day of class. He noted I had a perfect tardy record and I brought alcohol.
I’m not a fan of teamwork unless you can choose your team. I find myself doing most of the work when something is supposed to be a group effort. In all fairness, I’ve also fucked off when I was in a group I didn’t want to be in (belated apology to the guy stuck with me and the punk rawk girl in Bio for Non-Scientists.)
The thing is, why is it that although everyone, generally, feels that way about teamwork (as in - i could do better without you), that the product is almost never as good as if you did it yourself???
I can see that all the money we spent on montessori has been put to good use. On the subject of Teamwork, it is like a two edged sword. It can cut both ways. It is also an indispensible skill when you have to handle jobs that are too big for one person to handle. The best starting point of teamwork is to get on a good team. Otherwise it sucks.
Post a Comment
<< Home