Ir’s that time of year again. No, not the holiday season. I mean the end of the semester. And since I’m a university professor (only semi-retired; I still teach two online classes per semester) I’m grading term papers, assignments, and exams. As you might imagine, this isn’t my favorite activity–I’d rather be working on my WIP!–but it’s part of the job.
At the same time, students are being faced with the sometimes harsh reality of their grades, and I’m getting pleading emails. Some of these involve students who didn’t do things they were supposed to in the class, such as turn in assignments on time or take midterms. And some involve students who did everything, but not well, and now they’ve realized they’re going to get a bad grade.
And I’m faced with dilemmas. How do I balance compassion, fairness, and responsibility? I know many of these students are overwhelmed with school, jobs, family, and other stressors. Flunking a class will have significant repercussions for some students. But I also know that I state my course requirements clearly and repeatedly from the very first day–both in writing and in lectures–and that I send my students frequent reminders, pep talks, and offers to meet with them if they have questions. I also know that many of my students bust their butts to do their best work and get it in on time, and it doesn’t seem right to give the ones who didn’t equal standing.
As an author, I can be as cruel to my characters as I please–and I often am. But I know that in the end things will generally work out okay for them. Plus, of course, my characters aren’t real people. (Or so I’ve been told!) So it’s a lot easier to make decisions about their fates. I struggle much more when it comes to my role as professor.
I don’t have any easy answers to these dilemmas. I’ve been dealing with them for decades now, and it hasn’t gotten any simpler. I guess I just have to hope I’m making the right decisions most of the time.
Do you face similar dilemmas in your life? How do you handle them?
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Kim Fielding is the bestselling author of numerous m/m romance novels, novellas, and short stories. Like Kim herself, her work is eclectic, spanning genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Her stories are set in alternate worlds, in 15th century Bosnia, in modern-day Oregon. Her heroes are hipster architect werewolves, housekeepers, maimed giants, and conflicted graduate students. They’re usually flawed, they often encounter terrible obstacles, but they always find love.
After having migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States, Kim calls the boring part of California home. She lives there with her family and her day job as a university professor, but escapes as often as possible via car, train, plane, or boat. This may explain why her characters often seem to be in transit as well. She dreams of traveling and writing full-time.
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