Pa_e 2 Going Back to School Proves Rewarding By Don Sarvey This strange business all began with a message on my answering machine from some guy named Dr. Mahar. It turned out that a friend, Bern Sharfman, had recommended me to teach a course on magazine writing at Penn State Harrisburg. I don't know what Bern had against Bill Mahar. I've since found him to be a true gentleman and scholar. Anyway, little did I realize what I was getting into when I returned Dr. Mahar's call and said I'd be willing to give it a whirl. First off, Dr. Mahar's secretary, Loretta Reigle (a real peach), wanted a course description. I whipped up something that sounded jazzy and could fit anything I decided to do. What was so hard about this? Next came the matter of a textbook. How to pick a textbook? I brought all my journalistic experience to bear. Eeny, meeny, miny, mo, with which do I go? Actually the book I picked was a good one. Of course, I never would have known about it if Mrs. Reigle hadn't forwarded the publisher's sample to me. Now came the request for a syllabus. Hmmm. Had to look that one up. Doing a syllabus meant I actually had to think about what I wanted to accomplish in this course. At the time, I had no inkling how fast a semester could go by. Or how overly ambitious my 17-week scenario would turn out to be. Finally, the first day of class rolled around. I was terrified. Immobile with fear. I knew my throat would close up. I would only be able to wheeze incoherently. In fact, the first day was about as bad as I expected. All those young faces looking up, waiting for me to say something. Darn it, Bern, why did you get me into this? I stammered and rocked back and forth from one foot to another as I stood behind the lectern. I think I managed to introduce myself, Ready,S.E.T., Go!! Study effectiveness training, a seminar to improve student's study habits, is being offered in January and February by the Counseling Center. The four sessions of S.E.T. will discuss strategies for test taking, time management, note taking, and improving recall and retention. The sessions will be on Tuesday, Jan. 19 and 26, and Feb. 2 and 9, from 12:30-1:45 pm. Students interested in the sessions should pre-register by Jan. 18 in room - -117. 13 1988 give an assignment and dismiss the But, after a few more classes something happened. I started to relax a bit. Here I was talking about writing, one of my favorite subjects, and these young men and women were interested. They actually listened and they asked questions. We talked, we discussed. I had been afraid of not being able fill 50 minutes. Soon I found I was running out of time, not able to cover all I intended. Not only was I starting to enjoy myself, I was starting to find out that I was learning as much as the students. Having earned a living at writing for nearly 20 years, I often operated on automatic pilot. In dissecting the writing process for the students, I began to examine more closely what I did and why I did it a certain way. Another bonus was getting excited all over again about writing. The students' enthusiasm was contagious. A certain amount of weariness is bound to creep in if you do something long enough. Now I was getting the cobwebs knocked out. And then there was the reward of seeing students do good work. I never knew how exciting that could be. To see them put to good use something you transmitted-- well, that was a bit of a rush, to be honest. And when some of them published stuff they had done for . class, the 15 to 20 hours a week the class demanded didn't seem quite so bad. That was my first semester. Last semester I taught journalistic writing to a class twice as large. I learned that class size makes an incredible difference. A large class takes much longer to transform itself into an organic whole. I thought it might never happen, but eventually it did. I didn't know the students as well last semester, and the assignments were less ambitious because of the time it took to read and grade them. But I still learned, so that made me hopeful they were learning too. After two semesters at Penn r omeworkers Wanted! Top' Pay! C.I. 121 24th Ave., N.W. Suite 222, Norman, OK 73069 State Harrisburg I have only good things to say about the students and the people who run the Humanities Division. Nearly all the students are good-natured, but serious about what they're trying to accomplish. Dr. Mahar and his people are supportive and helpful, but not rigid about the way things should be done. . UV • that.„l4.o-* adver . know . want - t s4rers . yo Timps NA,s. thing, ments. • buy s ate, enmethAng/. trOOtal— or I:4."'att whyt • : tint sgrn e ; e lo .d someo4n. 5ep.„.... Nvon d • • 4s, Jan.. ....ctoieru4qlx! • United Parcel Service Part-time Employment Opportunities Available $B.OO per hour and up All Shifts Available Strenuous and challenging work available. Must be able to lift 70 lbs. For further information contact Lou Delmonico at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 986-8501 EOE M/F I'm glad I came back to school Don Survey, a magazine editor and freelance writer, is a part-time instructor He is a member of the Class of 1968.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers