Ruta Maya 2

Oh yes, I have found the sister coffee shop in San Antonio. It makes me so happy to be in a place that feels like Austin.

So, I just experienced a negative reinforcement and am perhaps overly aware of the results. For 6 or so years I worked at UT, managing grades, students, and schools. This Spring semester at A&M I had a student contest a grade (the creepy one mentioned in the previous blog). He earned a D for which he though he deserved an A. He has been harassing me since. The issue is not that he is contesting the grade. I believe in the power of students (although I have never had one NOT talk to me about it) to make their educational experiences good. However, the negative, hurtful, and questioning nature of his comments and harassment made it such that this semester (SUM I) when I had a student earn a D, I gave him a C. I swore I would not be a part of the grade inflation phenomenon and yet, here I am, a part of it.

At home, my grandparents arent doing good. My grandpa is entering the hard stages of Parkinson's and my grandma has been the primary caregiver. It is hard to see a 90 year old as the nurse to a 93 year old with a feeding tube. It is like being 90 and having a newborn baby. She feeds him every 4 hours, in addition to everything else. The hard part was that last week, when I spoke to her, she sounded so tired. I began the search for help...but it is hard to coordinate from here-to balance my job and the need for me at home. I need to be here, to teach summer school and make some money...but, I need to be at home helping to find some aid for my grandparents. Alas, I sit working...about to call mom about grandpa and grandpa.