Tutoring VC
So, I’ve been doing worth-while things with part of my life, which makes me feel somewhat better about my life. Sure, when I get home it’s nothing but working on the online class (which is over on Monday evening thank goodness) fixing dinner and tidying up around the house (Doug actually vacuumed today… I was even thinking about asking him when I walked out the door… but he did it without my asking) but when I’m at work, I’m doing things like helping children learn about how the government works, and getting money and support for military children whose parents are deployed.
However, the best thing I do all day… where I feel the most useful… is the period of time between 2 to 3:30 in the afternoons when I meet with VC. VC is an immigrant from Bulgaria who works as a custodian in Knapp Hall. Most people would probably have never noticed her at all, either that or just assume that she was some “ignorant immigrant escaping to here to get away from an oppressive homeland” nonsense. See, VC… is incredibly smart. She’s got a bachelor’s and a master’s from a Bulgarian university in information system technology… she’s a computer geek, something, from what I’ve heard, this country, especially Louisiana, could use a lot more of. She works two jobs, one at a place that monograms uniform shirts and other material, and then of course, the one at the Agcenter. She is at work from 6 in the morning till midnight before she comes home to do the same things that I complain about not having enough time to do: clean the house, take care of the animals, study for class, make sure that the husband (also a Bulgarian) is taken care of, before going to bed and doing the same thing in the morning.
VC’S dream is to earn her PhD in IT and have a great job using what she’s trained in… and I’m helping her to do that. VC’s not as skilled in English as she would like to be and has to pass an English proficiency test in order to be accepted in the program here at LSU. She would also need to speak English a little bit better so that she can get a better job—and I’m helping her… with my psudo-1337 Engrish grammatical ninja skills. She’s so diligent in her studies. I’m so used to students who want to know just enough to get by, or pass the test, but she wants to know it all and know it well, because in her opinion, it’s worth knowing. Who else is worthy of my time than she? … and she’s so grateful. She thinks I’m some kind of awesome, which I assure her on a regular basis that I’m not.
Anywho, on top of discussions about whatever nuance of grammar she’s studying that day, we occasionally talk about her experiences with the U.S., and how we’re different from Bulgaria. Most of the comparisons are not that great. She tells me about how she knows so many people without pride: people who work a little bit then quit to get welfare, people who take so many awesome luxuries- like larger houses, cars, etc- for granted. She tells me that I am not like the other Americans she’s met because I know about the history of different countries and appreciates learning more about different places. I think that her biggest surprise about me, the one thing that makes her think I’m not like the other Americans is that I acknowledge that we have made mistakes in the past, and that we, as a culture, or at least as a generation, believe that we are owed something. We are not willing to work hard, to earn what we get, and work hard for what we earn. She may be grateful to me for helping her and believing in her, but I am grateful for her insights and her example. I think if more Americans could be like VC, perhaps our country will survive the oncoming hardships.
