12/11/10

From Mademoiselle to Corporate Mademoiselle

The table next to me is dirty, smudged with white-board marker stains. The board itself could be replaced. The window panes in front of me are broken and the curtains are full of dust. I see a lizard creeping out from behind the junk dumped in one corner of the room…and I’m glad this is my last day in class.

Am I? Glad? Really?

I don’t know.

Taking a step back, I change my focus and my eyes now fall on the text book I had bought in 2007 because I always like to have my own copy of the book I’m using in class. I have used this one only twice. I see the CDs of music which are always in my bag, au cas où...my students writing oh-so-seriously today, every now and then looking up at me and mouthing out their favorite sentence “Ce n’est pas facile mademoiselle…

MADEMOISELLE.

I will miss being called mademoiselle by all those students. I will miss admonishing them every time they call me Madame and seeing them laugh and correct themselves. I will miss interacting with them, breaking my head over the difference between Passé Composé and Imparfait, sharing with them anecdotes from previous classes and what I love (and don’t love) about French culture, telling them that it is important to read in French and to try and be more cohérent in their discourse. I will miss discussing their histrionics with my colleagues.

I am at the crossroads, but there is no hesitation in my heart. I know the path I will choose. I have already chosen it. From mademoiselle to corporate mademoiselle, it's been an interesting journey. I have learnt a lot, grown and truly come into my own under this roof. But it is time to move on. The change is huge, and I steel my heart as I take this step. I can’t help but remember the lines of my favorite poem at this moment :

The woods are lovely , dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep.

And miles to go before I sleep.


And so, with a tremor in my hands, I close the French book and lay it aside and pick up the book on visual design and usability.