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“These young people” I sighed after reading the second request for an extension. The e-mail messages came in weeks before the first day of class and before the student even saw the syllabus. I reply politely, make sure I can log in to all the University’s systems and start writing my presentations. Later in the day I commiserate on Facebook with my fellow college instructors about how annoying these young people are; were we like that or did our teachers like us because we weren’t like that? How long will it take for these shenanigans to go from amusing to downright enraging? Its all fun and games, until a parent starts to stalk you because their brilliant child is barely earning a C in the course.
Shamaine DanielsPublished 22 days ago in EducationTHAT'S NOT WHAT I DO
I wasn't going to get an A, that's what my professor told me after examining my final entry for my Abstract Art course that semester. I apparently mixed colors too much and that was not part of the color vocabulary of the Abstract Art world. Over the semester I failed miserably to keep my colors crisp, and I was going to face the consequences for not following directions. My GPA was going to be damaged by a course that had nothing to do with my chosen profession, but which I had taken because it seemed like one of the only fun electives available. I didn't get an A, but being miles away from my home, during my first year away at a college I had never visited before moving into, I would find my inner peace at least once a week in this course I would not be acing.
Shamaine DanielsPublished 2 months ago in Confessions
WHAT I WANT TO BE WHEN I GROW UP
What do I want to be when I grow up? I jokingly refer to myself as a mid-life crisis-ing lawyer who happens to have a foot in politics. The truth is that over fifteen years of serving some the world’s most vulnerable populations can leave you emotionally and spiritually drained, and as I look towards my older colleagues who are experiencing their second and third heart attacks, it is apparent that continuing to do this work is more taxing than I can handle.
Shamaine DanielsPublished 4 months ago in Lifehack
Pest or mythical being?
There is nothing like flora and fauna to give you a sense of place. I grew up in a tropical region where the animals that surrounded me regularly were lizards, macaws, monkeys, snakes, in addition to your domestic cats, dogs, chickens. That meant that North American critters were exotic to me and experienced through cartoons. If it were available, I would have paid an admission fee to see squirrels, racoons, skunks, and possums-a thought that would be ludicrous to your average American gardener and/or hater of pests. Today I pay hundreds of dollars to have racoons, skunks and possums removed from my backyard.
Shamaine DanielsPublished 4 months ago in Humans
SORAYA'S KEYS
She was holding the key so tightly in her hands, you would be surprised it didn’t cut her. Her hands were wrinkled and reflected an age much older than the number of years she journeyed this earth; her nails, perfectly manicured so as to not betray what she did for a living when she wasn’t at work. When she opened the door, she could feel the thickness of the dust and the mold but relished in them as they were all hers. There were still artifacts from previous owners-a few lamps, armchairs and a dusty black book engraved in gold with the name Soraya. If she were superstitious, it would be easy for her to believe her ancestors bequeathed this home to her.
Shamaine DanielsPublished 7 months ago in Journal
