The Very Last Journal Entry

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The Very Last Journal Entry

I just had an appointment for a philosophy student, probably my first

one this semester. He was writing a paper and it was the exact same

topic that I had had in my philosophy class last year. It was really

nice to know exactly what to tell him since I had been through the

same experience. Being a philosophy major, I know the type of writing

that philosophy teachers like: papers with a very orderly structure

and statements that are backed up heavily. These papers aren't about

fluff and pretty language, but about hardcore facts and

well-thought-out theories. I passed this information onto John and it

was very helpful for him. His paper was already amazing, but just

changing a few sentence to really get his transitions across helped a

lot. I told him to list what he was talking about in his second

paragraph, and though this sounds boring and is something I hate to

do, I knew it would help his grade tremendously.

The student also had a very good philosophy in his paper. The point of

the assignment is to create your own philosophy with supporting

reasons and responses to objections, and I just really liked his view.

After we went through the paper, we just sat and talked for about

fifteen minutes about how it is that he came up with his topic and how

his life affected his choices. I know we aren't supposed to pry into

their personal lives, but we were just talking like good buddies. I

think it helped him a lot because he seemed kind of nervous before the

session, and getting to know me on a more than just superficial level

seemed to make him feel more comfortable. The paper assignment is a

very personal experience, so I think that personal communication was

necessary.

I've also been having more sessions with the Korean students, and I

think that I am getting better at finding stuff to say with them. Its

really interesting to learn about their culture, and I'm feeling less

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