The Speed of Dark

M-‘s second week of college was complicated by other medical problems in the family, but he is still happy to be going and engaged in his classes.   He is taking notes in class, and can usually give a moderately coherent report of the class.   He is working diligently on his homework.  He survived his first in-class quiz (pre-algebra) and made a passing grade (78/100.)   That’s higher than I made on my first calculus quiz and higher than he made on his assessment test before entry, so we’re very pleased.  

However, in the class where he’s supposed to assess his own strengths and weaknesses,  we think he’s unrealistically optimistic.   This is a trend seen in other people his age, according to both research and reports from teachers and employers…where my generation tended to feel we were less than we were, this generation is convinced of great ability and accomplishment  beyond its actual demonstration of same.   What’s ideal (and what none of us, perhaps, achieve until midlife or later) is an accurate understanding of where we are on a variety of scales.  We can’t all be above average in everything.   And it’s hard to work to improve something you already think is better than good enough.

Meanwhile, we’re working toward his being able to ride the buses alone–if only all rides didn’t involve transfers, we’d be more confident of his ability in this regard.    The other situations in the family have added appointments with doctors, etc.,  and removed one driver from the roster, so it would be very handy indeed if he could be dropped at the bus station 20 miles away and picked up from there in the evening.

On the whole, though, the first two weeks of college have been very encouraging.   Fingers well crossed for the rest of the semester.