7 Comments
Nov 27, 2023Liked by Robyn Ryle

It says much about you that the lesson you took was, “Well, kids just have faces, man. I guess one out of a hundred might have thought I was good.” Instead, “Ha! Your face belies your love for me because I’m awesome!”

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author

Oh, I thought my awesomeness was just a given. Also, I see you revising your comments.

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Nov 27, 2023Liked by Robyn Ryle

YOU SEE NOTHING! I am a ghost in the machine!

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Nov 27, 2023Liked by Robyn Ryle

As a former student, I can confidently say that none of my professors ever knew what was really going on in my head. Well, except for that one special statistics professor who once told me that, when explaining some statistical method, she would look to me to see if I understood because if I understood, then she knew everyone else understood. I loved her despite that backhanded compliment.

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Wow, not sure if that's something I would say to a student. I'm going to interpret it as a compliment at how expressive and attentive you were.

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Nov 27, 2023Liked by Robyn Ryle

Yes, I think she was remarking on how expressive my face could be, and she didn't mean any harm. In fact, we became friends. We weren't far apart in age and, although I never thoroughly grasped advanced statistics, I enjoyed being with her. Her comment is actually a fond memory :-)

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Not taking anything personally (not their faces, the person nodding off, the ridiculous excuse for an absence, even the attempt to cheat) was a life-saver for me as a professor. That even included thinking that I was somehow responsible for their successes, because, if you constantly try to duplicate what worked in one class or with one student in the next class, or with the next student--that way does indeed lead to madness!

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