Too many futures to count

    John was not in school today so I worked with a girl named Christy for the first part of my tutoring session.  Christy was a little quiet and shy but very nice.  She was a little distracted because her father was in the hospital.  We worked on some quizes and activities dealing with Microsoft office.  It did not give Christy a tutorial on Office but expected her to know complicated names for things and different functions of the program.  I was not able to help her much because I don't know much about Microsoft Office.  I was able to help her by insisting that she think each question through.  She had an especially hard time with true/false questions.  She would read the question through once and choose the wrong answer but as soon as I asked her to reread it she understood the answer and the statement.
      Christy left early to visit her father in the hospital.  At this point the number of tutors in the classroom outnumbered the number of students so I went across the hall to Mr. Dana's classroom.  There I worked with a girl named Alex.  I asked my opening question which is "what do you want to do after you graduate?"  Alex is the only person that has had an answer to this question so far.  Alexa wants to go to school to become a psychologist though she worries about having to get her doctorial degree.  I was immediately able to connect with Alex because my fiance is a psychology major.  We discussed it and I talked to her about the possibility of being a psychologist with merely a masters degree which is the path that my fiance is considering.  From this point we began the lessons.  Alex did not like the E2020 program at all.  She complained that they gave the same lessons over and over again and that the teacher was very annoying.  All of her complaints were legitimate.  Information is repeated and the teacher is extremely distracting because of the way in which he presents himself.
      Alex asked me about my college experience and my hopes for the future.  She is nervous about going to college because she has a short attention span and gets distracted very easily (her words, not mine).  She gave me the example of the way in which she cleans.  She doesn't clean or do dishes unless she just can't stand the mess and then she just can't stop cleaning until it's done.  I told her that I am the same way and that if she can find the same drive that she gets for cleaning she won't stop until she's succeeded in college also.  We're all a little reluctant and nervous about our future paths.  I wonder if I'll be a good teacher or if teaching is right for me but at some point you have to move past the doubts and just work towards your goals until you have achieved them.  I hope that I will be able to see Alex again.  I made a real connection with her and I hope that my words have helped her in some way.