Of course, it's my knee, but school isn't helping either. It's as if all of a sudden, all the work is starting to pile up. Essay after essay, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by everything.
Anyway, something interesting happened to me today. I was sitting alone just hanging out in school today and Mr. Hasim was leaving the school and he spotted me. He stopped to my bench table and chatted with me for a good half hour.
The interesting, surreal, unbelievable thing that happened was that we spoke about topics that weren't related to school: relationships, sexuality, jokes, health, people's behaviours. I've never spoken to a teacher on extremely personal topics -- those are usually saved for friends. However, I find it easy to open up to him. With him, the boundaries that separate student from teacher, the formalities and the top-down pedagogic exchange of information are broken down; outside the classroom, both parties are equal. It is in this setting that I can trust him fully and share my personal struggles with him.
It started off with my knee, transitioned to healing, then Merissa and why I cried yesterday, then my other issues, and then cute doctors. He doesn't even care or judge me for talking about these odd problems, romance, and the suggestion of sex. He welcomes all these topics with an open mind, a caring heart, and a listening ear, treating me as an equal and even giving advice. He was being extremely accepting and he even joked around with me, which was something relatively new to me. I've never had this kind of casual conversation with teachers; more like I never trusted my teachers enough to accept my views and my way of thinking and acting. He is a breath of fresh air and I'm so glad he understands where I'm coming from. He has such progressive, liberal views.
It's really amazing that I can connect with him and feel so comfortable in sharing my personal experiences with him on topics that I would never have imagined speaking about with an adult. I think it's because, outside of class, he sees his students as equals; as young adults who have thoughts, feelings and opinions that are just as valuable as his.
By leveling down from a position of authority, one is able to connect and interact meaningfully with others. People are so interesting and full of mystery. Behind a seemingly "boring" or "uninteresting" person lies a story that offers valuable insight in which one could learn. This is the approach I should actively pursue, but I'm getting there.
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