Sometimes They Surprise You

by Jeff Patterson

I am an avid strategy gamer. Growing up, games like Red Alert and Command & Conquer were my babysitters. Although these were likely not the ideal conditions to produce an empathetic, caring person, they did instill in me an appreciation for the ebb and flow of a well-fought match. While there is a point in every game where victory becomes impossible for one side, where the sheer mathematical superiority of one player is too great to be overcome, the thrill of a complex strategy game is not knowing when you’ve reached that point. Whether you are playing against another person or just an AI, no matter how hopeless a situation is, there is always hope for a run of good luck or a strategic oversight by your opponent that can turn the tides. Whatever the case, the last thing you want to do is worry about the odds; not only is it defeatist, but more importantly it robs you of the excitement that comes with uncertainty.

video game controller

I have learned the same applies to teaching. At times, there have been uphill battles: students who hated the idea of writing to the point of refusing to do assignments, who ignored the lecture when they even bothered to show up, or who would fail an assignment rather than ask for help. This can be frustrating and disheartening, but then fighting a losing battle always is, which is why it is so important to not think of the outcome before it is settled. There’s no reason to take a risk if you have already won, and there’s no reason to keep trying if you have already lost, so either way you will not be fighting as hard as if you think of the outcome as still uncertain. And as long as you are willing to take risks, to put in that extra work, the tide may just turn. Maybe it will be discovering a new technique that connects with your class. Maybe the next project will resonate with your students in a way the previous ones didn’t. Or maybe, as was recently the case for me, you will learn that someone you had written off as not invested in the course was just focusing on the wrong things, and with a bit of coaching, they become one of your brightest students.

And as long as you are willing to take risks, to put in that extra work, the tide may just turn.

The point is, you never know. And worrying about the outcome, no matter how inevitable it might seem, distracts you from the business at hand. Even worrying about the class as a whole can distract you from the student in front of you. This semester has been trying. On top of my own classes and research, my TA assignment has been, at times disheartening. Without going into detail, it is enough to say that when I found myself this month staring at a stack of drafts in need of feedback, I was less than enthused about the task.

stack of blue books

At the time, I wrote an essay for this blog about the importance of finding things in your life that are going well to keep your mind off the things going poorly. I never got around to submitting it. Similarly, after a sleepless week of conferences with students mostly just passively accepting my comments, I wrote a new essay about self-care and time management.

Obviously, that essay never made it to submission either.

The problem with those essays, as I soon came to realize, is that they were defeatist. They accepted the reality of failure and provided strategies to cope with it. As a gamer, that sort of mindset is counterproductive. As an educator, it is selfish. The fact is, you never know what the outcome will be, so anything short of fighting tooth and nail for victory is a disservice to your students.

Because sometimes they will surprise you. Sometimes drafts which are “just okay” are the basis of something good. Sometimes students are quiet in a conference because they are thinking. And sometimes you will get a stack of papers with the highest concentration of A’s you have ever given in your life.


image of Jeff PattersonI obtained my bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Sociology from the University of Georgia,and I am currently a second year student in the joint MA/PhD program of the Sociology department of the University of Georgia. My research focus is on organization and networking among “deviant” or countercultural groups. When I’m not in the field or my office, I’m usually at home reading fiction or occult books.

—Jeff Patterson