Today Restored My Faith...
in my generation!
I met the professor around 11:30, chatted a little, and headed to her classroom. Whenever students walked in she had them introduce themselves to me...this made me feel a little important. Then she introduced me and had me speak about how I came to write my piece. Then it was question time...
Everyone just stared at me. Awesome. But that only lasted a very long few seconds. We got talking about situations with the Iraqis, how the Army is known for its piss poor planning, sex, what it’s like coming home, censorship, other blogs (I pulled up Army of Dude, LT Nixon, and The Usual Suspect), stop-loss, the medias coverage on the war (what coverage?), word usage...I used the word insurgent in my piece, not terrorist...this surprised some, my personal relationships with the two men I talk about in my piece, socioeconomic something something...I don't really know what this one kid was trying to get at but he was adorable so I just pretended to know what the hell he was talking about, and they asked about how much control the average soldier has over the orders given to them and what happens if they disagree. Death I told them! Just joking...the Army needs everyone they have.
One girl was extremely surprised to find out some soldiers engage in sexual activities...what! I was surprised to find someone who thought that was a surprise! The same girl commented that in some parts of my piece I was "sweet" and in other parts I was blunt and not so sweet. Then she asked me who I was...I smiled and told her I was a little bit of both.
The professor dropped the “F bomb” and I don’t think she was too excited about that. In fact, she informed the class that the only time they would hear her say “fuck” was when it was a direct quote…so she said it a few times. I felt bad.
A few students made comments that now they realize soldiers aren’t superheroes or baby killers…but we are just normal human beings. I succeeded in getting my point across and that was the best feeling in the world.
So we did this for about an hour. Everyone was so sweet and curious. It made me realize people do care.
As I was leaving the professor made a comment about me writing some more and possibly turning my piece into a book…I laughed. However, a kid asked me when the projected date was for the book…I told him it was being negotiated.
I met the professor around 11:30, chatted a little, and headed to her classroom. Whenever students walked in she had them introduce themselves to me...this made me feel a little important. Then she introduced me and had me speak about how I came to write my piece. Then it was question time...
Everyone just stared at me. Awesome. But that only lasted a very long few seconds. We got talking about situations with the Iraqis, how the Army is known for its piss poor planning, sex, what it’s like coming home, censorship, other blogs (I pulled up Army of Dude, LT Nixon, and The Usual Suspect), stop-loss, the medias coverage on the war (what coverage?), word usage...I used the word insurgent in my piece, not terrorist...this surprised some, my personal relationships with the two men I talk about in my piece, socioeconomic something something...I don't really know what this one kid was trying to get at but he was adorable so I just pretended to know what the hell he was talking about, and they asked about how much control the average soldier has over the orders given to them and what happens if they disagree. Death I told them! Just joking...the Army needs everyone they have.
One girl was extremely surprised to find out some soldiers engage in sexual activities...what! I was surprised to find someone who thought that was a surprise! The same girl commented that in some parts of my piece I was "sweet" and in other parts I was blunt and not so sweet. Then she asked me who I was...I smiled and told her I was a little bit of both.
The professor dropped the “F bomb” and I don’t think she was too excited about that. In fact, she informed the class that the only time they would hear her say “fuck” was when it was a direct quote…so she said it a few times. I felt bad.
A few students made comments that now they realize soldiers aren’t superheroes or baby killers…but we are just normal human beings. I succeeded in getting my point across and that was the best feeling in the world.
So we did this for about an hour. Everyone was so sweet and curious. It made me realize people do care.
As I was leaving the professor made a comment about me writing some more and possibly turning my piece into a book…I laughed. However, a kid asked me when the projected date was for the book…I told him it was being negotiated.
posted by GI Kate at 6:35 PM
5 Comments:
Sounds like an emotional rollercoaster, Kate. I'm glad it was a valuable experience for you.
Good reading it went well, Kate. =)
Looksl ike it went well. I woul dbuy your book!
Very nice Kate!
Any chance you'd post the piece? Also, Obama made almost $7 million in the last two years from his book. Just something to think about :)
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