Writing Feedback and Gratitude
Dear Real Academics, November is traditionally the month of giving thanks in the United States. Ever since my family moved here from Mexico, Thanksgiving has been one of my favorite holidays, and one that I love to share with friends I meet who come from around the world. It is a time for counting and sharing the many blessings in my life. For all the bad in the world -- and there's an insane amount of bad at the time I am writing this blog post -- it is good for the soul to give thanks for blessings, no matter how big or small. This weekend, I provided writing feedback to about a dozen students in a small amount of time. These are students I have never met and that I do not teach. Some sent me whole dissertations. Some sent me small reflection paper assignments. Some sent me statistics assignments requiring a write-up. I thoroughly enjoyed providing them all feedback, but I'll be honest -- I was exhausted by the end of the weekend. (Hence, while this blog post is later than ...