After I had become a lecturer of English at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale in 2007, I purchased my first home, and to offset the mortgage, I had taken in a student tenant, Jielei. She was an athlete and a life-guard in the Rec Center. We had nothing in common, except for one thing: we…
Day: April 11, 2021
… build an experimental airplane?
Building the Aeronca took us four years. Four years of sweat and heavy lifting, designing, drilling, cutting, screwing, sewing, welding, ironing, painting – the most exciting, wonderful experiences I made during my summer-off time from the university, when I helped John Williams, or “John the Mason,” as I used to call him, because he was…
… live the Montessori Way?
In the fifth chapter of From Childhood to Adolescence, Maria Montessori talks about how children need to see real things; she mentions that in the course of the history of education, children first were just presented with illustrations, and later were allowed to see things in museums. However, “enclosed objects” watched by “confined children” (From…
… be a mom over 40?
“Is he your grandson?” asked a guy at the Christmas market when I was pushing my son’s stroller along the booths. “Have you never seen a mom over 40?” I thought, dismayed. Not every girl finds her true love in her twenties. I met the love of my life at 38, through my job at…