Yesterday I met a lecturer again that I had during my year doing my BTEC at Yeovil College. I wanted to share some of my experiences and how I think he’s helped me further than just the college courses he taught.
M – for I am not going to name him here! – was the first of the lecturers I met, aside from my tutor. We were a tiny class of students and I had joined a week late. I got the immediate impression that the others had decided he was a strict tutor and that he was going to push them hard.
Some of us, like me, had come straight from school. Some of us had come from years out of education, and some had come from failed attempts at college before. We hadn’t been pushed like this in a while, if ever.
Of course, it was never pushing. It was firm encouragement because he knew the potential of all of us, and he wanted to help us achieve that potential. He taught us that deadlines weren’t a joke like they are at so many schools. He didn’t get angry, just disappointed, if someone didn’t meet one of the deadlines. And to be honest, disappointing your lecturer makes you feel worse than if they get angry at you.
I am generally a committed student and something of a perfectionist. He was pleased with my first submitted assignment. I made it my goal to keep on meeting his expectations and hopefully pushing past them. I don’t know if I should have been aiming for M’s expectations rather than mine, but it certainly gave me a wonderful idea of what I can achieve.
M also went out of his way to help with the extra unit I had to take as directed by my employer. He always had time for us, always gave me carefully delivered constructive feedback, and was always, always, encouraging.
It dawned on me when I left college that I had learned much more; I felt much better prepared for my upcoming NVQ and full-time job out in the real world than I ever had before, and I think I owe it mostly to M.
It’s lovely that he asked after me when he came to see our new apprentices yesterday, and he’s always interested to know how I’m doing and what I’m doing with what I’ve learned. I left Yeovil College in 2008 and he still remembers me!
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