these days...

nothing new or different is going on;

school days seem to pass by really quickly,
and i really need to redeem the time.

the important exam is in november,
and now that september is up and swinging,
i can sense the pressure slowly but surely building up each day...

i'm even crossing off each of the days in my calendar which gives me an added sense of urgency, and physically feeling in my hand the day that can never be gained back...

ok, ok, perhaps i'm being overly dramatic;
i should talk about fluffy rabbits and rainbows...


oh!
there is this neighbor that has a rabbit;
she's taking the second course in calculus, and she needs help badly;

now, i'm all about helping people in need, so in trying to be a good neighbor, i offer my assistance in mathematics;


this is what i found out the first time i go and help:

she missed class for the first week and a half attending this event called "burning man."

for those of you guys that are neither a hippie nor a computer nerd, this is an event where a bunch of the described types go to a desert (somewhere in the sierra nevada region) and they run around in the sun while being intoxicated in various forms of debauchery; the culmination of the event "climaxes" in burning a doll; many of them find the experience "awesome."

now don't get me wrong, some of my best friends are hippies and computer nerds, however, none of them (from which i know) has ever attended 'burning man' and if i were to find out they have... i'm digressing.

as you might have sensed, i feel no inspiration from such an event, nor from the people that attend such an event.

anyways, she's behind about 3 sections, but since she knows she needs to make up some lost ground, i figured i have a motivated student, which is always a great type of student to tutor. (honestly, me and my optimism...)

that was the first session.


so i go over a couple of days later, and she has done nothing; she's basically waiting to be spoon fed the information; in fact, when i tried to guide her in solving the problems, she wasn't even feigning effort; it was like pulling teeth.

(completely flabbergasted about the lack of motivation on her part)

i basically gave her the same speech i gave to the junior high kids that were like 13 years old; i told her she should probably drop the class, because i've seen people that know more fail calculus courses; she says she can't drop the course because she is on some kind of loan that hinges on her taking a certain number of courses;

i didn't know what to say; i just told her the next possible time i could help, and left; that possible time frame i had free was yesterday; however, i needed more time away from dealing with that kind of irresponsible junior high mentality;

i figured if she needed help, she knows where i live...

what do you think?
am i heartless for not wanting to babysit a junior high student whose age can be rounded off to 30 years old?



-heartless in hawaii


--