Saturdays bring instructor conferences and a litany of conversation topics for cherubs to fill the time. Jasmine Guo of Shanghai said she wasn’t sure what to to expect during her first conference with instructor Carlin McCarthy.
“I do feel seriously underprepared for every single meeting, because it’s 20 minutes and I can’t think of anything to talk about for, like, 20 minutes,” she said.
Now, Guo creates a mental list of a few questions regarding her assignments and treats her conferences like interviews to fill the time.
Instructor Erin Ailworth said she allows cherubs to decide what they discuss during meetings so she doesn’t “hijack the conversation.” She also prepares potential topics in case cherubs are unsure.
“It is Saturday morning, and I know I’m getting tired cherubs, so their brains might not be fully on if they haven’t had coffee or time to wake up yet,” Ailworth said.
Instructor Ava Thompson Greenwell addresses individual writing and completes edit exercises with cherubs. She said her conferences are structured and consistent.
Gavin Lin of Palo Alto, California, brings his annotated assignments to conferences with instructor John Kupetz to decipher them together. Afterward, he talks about his publication and “then dogs, prior students and a mysterious coffee stain on his desk.”
“I think it was very easy to fill the time with John,” he said, “and he actually makes me feel like he’s a very good listener.”
Ailworth and Greenwell both said they appreciate talking to cherubs about their experiences throughout the program.
“I do wish they would ask more questions… sometimes there’s some shyness, there’s some intimidation,” Greenwell said. “But I think you want to leave the meeting as clear as possible.”
