I always wondered, what is it that makes me feel that learning at college is a burden these days, and learning in Sankalp is something I do out of pleasure/ curiosity/ enthusiasm? Basically I like to learn stuff, also I am a little lazy and want to learn it the not-so-tough-way as much as possible. ;) But somehow, my thirst to learn at college has died down in the past one year. Yet I feel the same enthusiasm I did to learn anything new here at Sankalp.
The question materialized in my mind when I saw my calendar sometime last week n most of the days till the end of the month required me to prepare something or the other for college. The same calendar also reminded me of some of the tasks I had to do @ Sankalp at the same time, like preparing for the upcoming Anniversary for instance. So what was the difference I felt? Naa, who cares of the daily tortures of college, let me prepare for the Sankalp's annual event - The Anniversary..
But the question was still nagging me at the back of my mind. I was never the one who differentiated stuff (college, home, Sankalp n so on). To me they were different parts which completed my day (or rather life). So why am I doing it now? To even probe further, my department may have the same number of teachers (or more) as there are the Volunteers of Sankalp. Both are places of learning and both (according to me) are my responsibility to do well. Everyday is a new challenge and everyday I learnt something new at both the places. So where and when did things start falling apart?
Then one of the conversations I had with a friend came back to my mind. I guess it was just there waiting for me to ponder about it and bring it out. Maybe the enthusiasm that comes for my work at Sankalp is from the fact that Volunteers here are still "people" who understand. They are not trying to be "Gods" by "evaluating" us, marking us off for our mistakes etc.. They themselves are on the path of learning and understand it when we say that we didnt understand or that we failed to do something and are always supportive in our tasks no matter how busy they themselves are. Just the confidence that I get that someone will help me when I falter is enough to make me work hard enough before I seek their help.
I understand the constraints of any Educational system. Maybe there are majority of the students who walk in to enjoy n not study/ work. Also it is a part of the documentation required by colleges to show all the students' evaluation. The students maybe passing clouds to the teachers who are in the college just to do their work n not "understand" us, but is that a valid enough reason to ignore us? Some of us only ask support in our learning, a guidance to walk the path that is expected of us, an encouraging smile to say "go on". Is it too much to ask for?