There is so much to write about and not enough time to write. Every day brings new Jishou adven­tures. Part of me wants to blog about every meal that I’ve eaten with stu­dents, every con­ver­sa­tion that I’ve had with the locals, and each day of class that I’ve taught so far, but there’s just not enough time.

Some of my most intrigu­ing con­ver­sa­tions have occurred dur­ing indi­vid­ual ses­sions. For twenty min­utes, I have a chance to ask my stu­dents about their day. Most of my stu­dents are remark­ably can­did and share per­sonal infor­ma­tion dur­ing these ses­sions. (I keep won­der­ing if I was this open with my Prince­ton in Bei­jing teach­ers two sum­mers ago.)

One of my stu­dents told me about his dream to live in Aus­tralia and swim all day. Instead of pulling out the par­ent card, I sim­ply lis­tened to him. He told me that he wants to travel the world before he is 40 years old, and then he wants to set­tle down in the Aus­tralian coun­try­side. Hear­ing a 14 year old boy tell me about his bucket list reminded me to keep my own bucket list in mind as I enter my senior year.

Yes­ter­day, I had a won­der­ful indi­vid­ual ses­sion with Vic­to­ria. Vic­to­ria stood me up as last week, so I asked Kelsey if I could have her for indi­vid­ual ses­sion again this week. Some­how, I got her talk­ing about how she is going to col­lege to be a flight atten­dant. You should have seen the way her face lit up when she started to tell me about her plans to travel to France, the USA, and Japan. Once I got her talk­ing, she wouldn’t stop.

Not all of the indi­vid­ual ses­sions have been about rain­bows and but­ter­flies. There have been a few ses­sions that have left me feel­ing heav­ier than before. Last Wednes­day, one of my stu­dents told me a story that brought tears to my eyes.

I cher­ish the time that I get to spend with my stu­dents and lis­ten to them tell me their life sto­ries. I have two and a half more weeks left to hear as many more sto­ries as pos­si­ble. Wish me luck!

–Alyssa