am back in school, albeit facing the opposite side of the room than i previously planned. they call me a dozentin- –some sort of an affiliate teaching staff– for technical english. it took a while to unearth the aptitude for teaching which has been buried for more than 10 years. but it took just the whole of two minutes in front of the calss today to shake the jitters away. it suddenly felt like i was well, in my elements.

in the past, i’ve given the notion of teaching english not more than a casual thought. it’s just not something i can imagine myself to enjoy doing. many people have tried to push me, “surely, you can do that!” but see, i have this thing with committing only to tasks i’m fairly confident that i can make a good job of. for me, it’s simply not a question of whether i can accomplish a task or not. equally important is whether i am competent enough to turn out more than just a mediocre performance in it or not (i know, AnP, i’m really becoming german, haha!)

so i’ve always said, “no, it’s not my field. i studied life sciences, not languages.” my myopic and unimaginative view prevented me from exploring the possibilities. until the opportunity practically fell on my lap, i never thought of teaching technical english/scientific writing. until the offer came. and then i had no more alibis. i know it’s something i can do, and i know i can do it well.

what do they call it? serendipity?

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