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Friday, April 06, 2012

Yes, I Failed

I like being good at things.  I like being right.  Both of those, especially the second one, are understatements.  So it was very difficult for me the semester that I took Greek in seminary and just did not get it.  And so, I failed it.  I don't even like admitting that (see the first two sentences of this post).  I tried, but I just could not put the time and effort into it that I needed to in order to understand it.  Even though I was taking only two classes each semester (through an online program), I still had my job as a legal assistant and my job as the Young Adult Coordinator at my church, plus who knows what else I was doing at the time.  Part of the problem was that I added seminary in addition to things in my life and didn't cut anything out.

However, I do want to return to seminary again someday, and while I do not want to pursue the Master of Divinity degree this time, I do want to pursue a Master of Arts in New Testament.

To do this, I will have to be proficient in Greek.

I don't even know when I will go back to seminary, yet I already feel anxiety and discouragement about learning Greek!

And then encouragement came unexpectedly.  I joined a blogging challenge at the very end of March that has as its goal for everyone doing it to post 30 posts in April.  I have met some new blogging friends via this group and I was chatting with one, Eleni Poulaku, on Facebook the other day, about Greek (since that is one of the languages she knows) and she simply said that "Failure is just one step towards success."  I thought "hmmm...maybe I can do this."  Yesterday, I got out my Greek textbook and erased all of the places I had done the exercises within each chapter.  I am hoping that if I start familiarizing myself with Greek now and doing it slowly, that when I eventually take the class again for real, it will be easier and not as frustrating, and, perhaps, my grade will be at the opposite end of the grade spectrum as the last time.


4 comments:

Eleni Poulakou said...

I'm SO glad you started working on your Greek lessons already!
Letit be... Greek to others (lol), I know you can do it -- and, please, don't hesitate to ask for help. Just contact me through my FB page or my blog :)

Unknown said...

Thanks! I think that since there is no time frame on doing it and I can work at my own pace, it will be a lot less stressful. Of course, I now will have to actually be disciplined to do it, which is what a structured class or time frame brings to it.

Eleni Poulakou said...

Hmmm... Let's see...
Idea: You can inform me about what you plan to study each week or fortnight, and then we can arrange a "test" day -- you know, I find some texts or exercises and ask you a few questions on the material covered.
This will help both of us, I think. You will learn, and I will get an insight on the way a student learns when working alone or online. What do you think?

Unknown said...

Good idea. I'm hoping to go through my textbook today or tomorrow and come up with a study plan.