The last few weeks I have been reminiscing quite a lot about
the past and discussing how early experiences may have shaped me as a person.
This is something you do a lot as you get older (so I am told) and maybe wiser
(as you tend to reflect more as you have more stuff in your brain).
Watching the Horizon programme on Monday
about male and female brains prompted all sorts of discussions regarding gender
and the role of nurture in shaping our perceptions. Something that we talked
about during my last Open University module ED841 – Understanding
Children’s Development and Learning. We are also moving house soon, so I
have been rummaging around my old boxes and finding schools reports that
described qualities I still have.
I like people. There’s no debating that I am an ‘extrovert’
who draws their energy from other people (although, it should be noted that I
do pretty good at the relaxing, quiet, mindfulness stuff too). But I am at my
best with others. My father was a shop keeper in my early years, and we moved a
lot. That is by the age of ten I think I had lived in about seven or eight
different houses. Therefore, I grew up around lots of different people and had
to move schools a few times during those early years. This had to have had some
kind of impact on my social ability. Also, when I was very young (infant up to
about 6 or 7), I was constantly going to see an ear specialist. They thought I
might be partially deaf. Actually, looking back, I think that I just learned to
switched off when people didn’t interest me, or chose to hear what I wanted for
my own benefit. Or maybe, I just wanted to listen to what was happening and
take it all in. Most people I know today wouldn’t call me a ‘quiet’ person. But
when you look back at my school reports they often say quiet and thoughtful. I
was obviously taking it all in ready for the future.
In the last three years I have been doing my Masters with the
Open University. I started because after nearly ten years in the pub world, I
had started a job where I needed to use my brain again. Best decision ever
made, and I think I do better now than I did as an undergrad. However, when
re-visiting my past reports, it was interesting to see that actually, I may
have always had the potential, it just got lost along the way.
So here’s some of the highlights from year 2 and 3 (that
year 8 and 9 in new money!). Oh – and pretty much every subject says ‘enthusiastic
and hard-working’. I would like to think that I have carried that on into my
adult life!
English year 2 – “Samantha
appears to enjoy the subject and is always willing to participate in oral work.
Her writing shows response to language and sensitivity of approach although at
times she needs to be more methodical in sorting out her ideas.” It’s true.
Sometimes I have so many ideas that it takes a while to ‘sort them out’. That
still happens. If you could see my dining table when I write essays its pages
of lists, to ty and decide what is relevant and what not. I like to think that
I am better at this now.
English year 3 – “Samantha
works with enthusiasm in both oral and written activities. I was particularly
pleased with her first attempt at argumentative writing, a difficult concept to
grasp.” Glad I learnt this early on. I like to be able to see all sides of the
argument. It helps have a balanced approach.
RE year 3 – “ Samantha
has a quiet but intelligent approach to her work. She always achieves a high
standard.” My RE teacher was a definite role model. One of many women in my
life who have exuded a positive a peaceful presence. I think that helped in
developing my abilities.
Design and technology year 3 – “Samantha is a very able student who achieves a good deal of success in
this subject. She generates a range of
intelligent solutions to a design problem and successfully realised them into
three dimensional artefacts.” I really like this one. One thing that I am
most definitely is pragmatic. My partner would probably not agree that I am
logical, but that’s because he get the ‘home’ version of Sam. Also – I do the
DIY at home, so this was obviously in the making.
Art and design – “Samantha
works with imagination and enthusiasm. She has developed a strong and
individual drawing style.” I like this one as it talks about my strong and
individual style. Yep. That’s me. I am not prone to doing what people expect me
to do, and remember my Math teacher once bemoaning the fact that I got the
answers right, but didn’t do it in the way I was meant to!
English (end of year) – “Samantha
has a very positive attitude towards all aspects of the course and her literary
answers show depth of understanding of the text being studied. In oral
activities samantha’s contributions illustrate her perception of the topics
under discussion.” The repetition of strength in my oral approach is
interesting I think. I need others to help me to formulate my ideas, and like
talking to people. For introverts this is very frustrating, but there is
something about the social aspect of learning that still resonates within.
Phys ed – “ Samantha
always works with enthusiasm and is keen to learn new skills, which she masters
quite well and then used actively. She is an effective trampoline coach, where
she has the ability to point to the most relevant mistakes.” OK. I was
rubbish at
PE. Not a sporty person at all. I got a lot of enthusiasm in these
reports. I particular like this one though, as I think it shows the start of my
future career as a manager, or my ability to spot where there are areas that
need development, or need to be tackled.
RE – “Samantha always
does her best work. She expresses facts clearly and argues logically. She has
shown a sensitive appreciation of the issue we have studies and has obviously
thought about them at considerable depth. She is never content with a
superficial answer.” You can see that I loved my RE teacher! I think the
content that we engaged in, often about culture, beliefs and people, allowed me
to explore the topic more. But particularly, I like the last line. I am still
not content with a superficial answer, so be careful when you answer my ‘why’
questions. Life goes deeper than superficiality.
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