September 29, 2001


Thursday was my first day of teaching Kaplan. it was quite an experience. i have 35 kids in my class, all who seem to be quite energetic, despite the fact that it's the end of the day (i teach 3:30-6:30). i actually feel a bit bad for the kids, cuz it was so chaotic to start with (with signups and other administrative stuff), and then when i actually started teaching, i spent too much time on the first 2 (of 5) lessons, so i had to rush through the last three. i feel like i was cheating the kids out of good learning. but next time i will be much better. things to improve on--be more assertive and so take control of the class, and learn their names so i can call on them, make sure everyone is paying attention. i really do want to be a good teacher for these kids. i want them to do well on the SAT. they deserve the same chances and opportunities as someone growing up in, say, palo alto, if not more. money should not be an issue when it comes to education.

on an entirely different note, i would like to talk about my roommates. i really like them, both bryan cheung and danny lee. they have been great. we have been able to get along (especially danny and i, who have lived together for three years now) pretty well since we have been living together. for all of us to not sweat the little things, but work to facilitate communication and friendship has been a wonderful living experience. living in a household full of tension definitely is not a good thing, and im glad im not a part of it now. i dont know why im talking about them right now, i guess i just feel like it.

A last thing i would like to mention is that a lot of anti-war stuff has been going on our campus. but i dont know how anti-war sentiment can be justified. i mean, if we dont punish those who attacked us, what is that saying to terrorists at large? people here say we should look at the origins, to see what happened to these people that they should hate the US so much. well, maybe so. maybe they have some valid thing to say about how our government has wronged them. but it does not justify their actions by any means. regardless of the reason, every person is responsible for their actions meaning they have to suffer the consequences or reap the benefits of what they have done. the terrorists may receive forgiveness, and should, but they also deserve to be punished for their actions, which cannot be ignored.

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