Dear Overeducated Teacher,
I took a creative writing course in college. My instructor was a bit of a fruitcake. No offense to fruitcakes, but she really was as nutty as they come. One day she had us all get up from our seats and leave the classroom to “explore,” as she called it. Our task was to find an object in nature and bring it back to class. Across the lawn, I saw a classmate hold up a petrified dog turd. “What about this?” He laughed hysterically while I made a mental note to file this creative exercise away in the “what not to do with teens” column.
Ten minutes later everyone returned with objects from nature. Seventeen people brought leaves, two girls held plain ol’ rocks, and of course, there was one petrified…well..you know.
My instructor was the last to rejoin the class. She came prancing in with a huge stick dangling by her side. She sat at the helm of the classroom proud as a peach.
“Today,” she said. “We shall use our five senses to explore our objects. Then we will write about it.”
“I will begin. First, I will sniff the stick,” she said as she held the warped and dead branch up to her nose and inhaled deeply.
“Next, I will lick the stick,” she mumbled as she stuck out her creepy old-lady tongue to, kid you not, lick the same stick that had been sitting very near the…well..you know.
That’s when two things dawned on me.
#1 If you’re going to be a wise crack, and bring anything petrified to class, you might want to make sure the follow up activity does not involve sensory exploration.
#2 There is a danger that comes from being overeducated. I don’t care how many degrees you have, if you lick sticks for a living, I’m going to have a tough time respecting you.
But don’t we all know someone who does.
When I encounter a person who has learned so much that he or she becomes out of touch with reality, I can’t help but think it’s all a bunch of…well..you..know.
Fruitcake, anyone?
-CDB