Day 4,560—Running in the Rain or the Struggle is Real—

 

I had to explain cliches to a student yesterday. I am not sure exactly how it happened or what I was trying to talk about but I remember going into a detailed explanation of cliches, which I realized does get confusing when talking about the difference between cliché’s and idioms but that’s not really what I was trying to explain, and then I thought about the difference between sitting in my office talking to a students about misunderstandings and how to get along versus talking to students about how to write. Part of me questions what is important for anyone to learn now when it looks like the problems that students will likely face in their lifetime will be completely different from the problems I faced in my lifetime. 

There is always going to be crossover but at the same time it is like when I talked to my parents about their career experience and they were entirely unhelpful. When they went to college, it was affordable and no one had to take out big loans to go. When they entered the work force, most people had 1 or 2 different jobs in their lifetime. This isn’t at all what I experienced when everyone has a bachelor’s degree, and every career has both new jobs and jobs that no longer have the same stability. When my parents grew up, being the check-out person at the grocery story was a reliable middle-class job. I just remember feeling so much pressure to have it all figured out. My dad was constantly harassing me in high school to have a career trajectory that he agreed with, even though, he wasn’t interested in helping, nor did he feel like it was his job. It was a lot. I don’t want to do the same thing to the next generation.