Mariam Saleh, Teaching Assistant, German University in Cairo

I believe in taking chances.....

I've been saying these words everyday for as long as I remember, but when I got a chance I didn't take it. God has given me a chance, a chance that I'm not sure if it's a good one, and I said no on the spot. I've said I hated something without even trying it. I didn't even want to take God's gift, I'm glad I woke up in the right time and I've learned from my mistake....

I've learned that I can't judge something or some one without knowing. I've learned that I'm supposed to think before I let the words come out of my mouth. I've learned that I have to listen to others and not just to myself. I've learned that God might give you shortcuts to get to what you've planned for yourself easier or faster. I've learned that your plan doesn't always  have to go on the same route you want it to go, but you still can reach your aim.

I'm not saying that this is the best thing that's ever happened to me, because it's not. I'm working 7 days a week, day and night. I fail to sleep at night because my mind is too focused on work that I can't even get it to fall asleep no matter how tired I am. I am only a part timer, but I work even more than full timers. People call me crazy to do so, and maybe I am, but there is another side to it, I am teaching 12 hours, as much as a full timer does, so call me a part timer or whatever you want to call me, and this will still make me have a load of a full timer. 

Maybe I'm crazy, or maybe I'm nice, but God has created me that way and I love it, and I'm hoping that this job will not make me change my ways ever. I love helping people, and there is noway I'd see someone asking me for help and not help her/him. So part timer or not, I won't see my students needing me and just leave "because I'm only paid to teach my hours and leave". That's just me, maybe I'm right and maybe I'm wrong, but I just love being that way and I'm hoping the pressure of being a GUC T.A. won't making me change.

There is a good side to it too, I love the people I'm working with, I love every single T.A. I've met, they're very nice and helpful, they're always there to bring a smile on your face. They're there to tell you you're not alone on this boat, to take the pressure off your shoulders, to make you laugh so hard no matter how tired or pressured you are. I'm sure that this is the best working community anyone could wish for and I'm grateful, so grateful that I'm working with those people.

Not only the T.A.s, but the students too, my  new friends. I'm teaching the tenth and sixth semesters, the tenth semester students are my age so it's not really like I'm only their T.A, but I'm also their friend. I love them and I love their company, I don't mind having them around my desk all the time. They're great people, hard workers, always happy, and they're really good. They surprise me with how good they are, with how they never give up, with how long they can stick their faces to their laptops and work until they get the job done. All this and I'm only teaching a lab, so all I can say is: I'm really proud of them and I'm happy that I got to know those very nice people.

One very good thing too, is it that I'm working in my beloved GUC, the place where I've enjoyed the past five years of my life. It's not only the people, but the orange buildings, the green green gardens, the not-so-good-but-better-than-a-lot-of-other-places technologies. Not only this, but also the GUC club (that now I rarely see), Cilantro, the talking elevators, the good and the bad of the GUC. It's the place where I enjoyed the best days of my life, the place I never wanted to leave, and now, I'm staying there and that's one more thing I'm grateful for. 

Good or bad, I'm really glad I took that chance, because I've learned a lesson from it, I've seen a side of myself that I didn't really know I had. I've learned when to be nice and when to be harsh. I was able to make my students love me (I hope). I proved that I'm very bad with explaining things =), but I worked hard to make people fully understand (I hope again). So even if this was a mistake, then I've learned to learn from my mistakes. And as long as I've learned something, then it can never be that bad =).