Troublemaker?
I was going to start this blog with the simple observation that "I'm no spring chicken". However, I don't quite know the etymology of the phrase (though I could take a guess...) and, frankly, think there are better ways to relate my experience than through a comparison to poultry.
In college (yes they had college back in the 90's...) I studied computer science... scratch that... I studied software engineering. What's the difference? Come over one day when you have 3 years to kill and we'll chat about it. My college was small, classes were small, and I was a suck-up who made friends with all my teachers. Two of these teachers were rabid software engineers. They were program slicers (come over, 3 years, you know the drill) and they beat into me a sense of engineering over simple construction. One of the reasons I do so many other things well (or at least methodically) is through whatever small discipline they were able to transfer to me.
Starting in my junior year of college I was tutoring adults through their masters degree programs. I've probably been a "helper" to 10's of graduate courses in "my day". The money was always good, especially if the person really, really, needed an "A" in the class. 8) The problem was, it left a pretty bad taste in my mouth for MS degrees.
Fast forward some depressing number of years and here I am, sitting in a master's degree program, remembering what it was like to be a junior in college. I am at once bored silly and terrified that the discipline has changed while I wasn't looking. That's right... bored and terrified are not mutually exclusive.
At work I am part of a group which, as its charter, defines the software processes to be followed for all software in the entire space department. It requires a real passion for software process. It also requires a real knowledge of software engineering. One of my graduate classes is called "The fundamentals of software engineering". It's like taking a class on breathing -- you know how to do it but always wonder if you can do it better.
And this is where I often get myself in trouble. I need to make the class interesting to me, because it is a 3 hour class and if there is something that is truly new I don't want to miss it because I was daydreaming. Usually, this means being mischevious... starting out with some simple humor and then working my way up to "devil's advocacy" and outright sophistry. Defending silly statements and fringe views just to hear, and refirm, the arguments against them.
The problem is, in making the class entertaining for myself, I risk coming across as arrogant, derailing, or simply psychotic (flipping viewpoints too frequently).
I suppose if the worst thing I can say about the classes I am taking now is that I struggle to make thems fun without being too much of a nuisance, that really isn't too much to complain about. It's funny how the thing I thought would be a real stressor in my life turned out to be one of the more calming and affirming things in it.
-Ed
ps. Some of this could have to do with the individual instructors. A good friend of mine is taking one of the classes I am taking, but in a different section at a different location. He complains about the number of homework assignments, how they take 6 hours to complete, and how the material goes by so quickly in class no one understands it. I showed him my homework assignment and the first question was "What color is an orange". I think he wanted to weep.
In college (yes they had college back in the 90's...) I studied computer science... scratch that... I studied software engineering. What's the difference? Come over one day when you have 3 years to kill and we'll chat about it. My college was small, classes were small, and I was a suck-up who made friends with all my teachers. Two of these teachers were rabid software engineers. They were program slicers (come over, 3 years, you know the drill) and they beat into me a sense of engineering over simple construction. One of the reasons I do so many other things well (or at least methodically) is through whatever small discipline they were able to transfer to me.
Starting in my junior year of college I was tutoring adults through their masters degree programs. I've probably been a "helper" to 10's of graduate courses in "my day". The money was always good, especially if the person really, really, needed an "A" in the class. 8) The problem was, it left a pretty bad taste in my mouth for MS degrees.
Fast forward some depressing number of years and here I am, sitting in a master's degree program, remembering what it was like to be a junior in college. I am at once bored silly and terrified that the discipline has changed while I wasn't looking. That's right... bored and terrified are not mutually exclusive.
At work I am part of a group which, as its charter, defines the software processes to be followed for all software in the entire space department. It requires a real passion for software process. It also requires a real knowledge of software engineering. One of my graduate classes is called "The fundamentals of software engineering". It's like taking a class on breathing -- you know how to do it but always wonder if you can do it better.
And this is where I often get myself in trouble. I need to make the class interesting to me, because it is a 3 hour class and if there is something that is truly new I don't want to miss it because I was daydreaming. Usually, this means being mischevious... starting out with some simple humor and then working my way up to "devil's advocacy" and outright sophistry. Defending silly statements and fringe views just to hear, and refirm, the arguments against them.
The problem is, in making the class entertaining for myself, I risk coming across as arrogant, derailing, or simply psychotic (flipping viewpoints too frequently).
I suppose if the worst thing I can say about the classes I am taking now is that I struggle to make thems fun without being too much of a nuisance, that really isn't too much to complain about. It's funny how the thing I thought would be a real stressor in my life turned out to be one of the more calming and affirming things in it.
-Ed
ps. Some of this could have to do with the individual instructors. A good friend of mine is taking one of the classes I am taking, but in a different section at a different location. He complains about the number of homework assignments, how they take 6 hours to complete, and how the material goes by so quickly in class no one understands it. I showed him my homework assignment and the first question was "What color is an orange". I think he wanted to weep.
posted by Ed at 10:13 AM
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