Benton Fraser (the_mountie) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-01-28 09:30:00 |
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Entry tags: | benton fraser, t'challa (black panther) |
Who: Benton and T'Challa
What: Two intellectuals having conversation over tea/coffee
When: January, after new classes have started
Where: Baxter Bakery
Rating: Gen
Status: Complete
T'Challa wrapped his large hands around the cooling coffee cup, enjoying the feel of the warmth emanating from it. He liked this coffee house, it had a nice atmosphere and their coffee was excellent. He would have to come here more often. He leaned back in his chair and smiled at his newfound friend, Benton Fraser. They'd found one another on Valar and had agreed to meet up and so far had gotten to talking about their respective areas of study and now were just moving on to commiserating about their students.
"Tell me, have you ever had any students fall asleep in the middle of your class?"
Fraser laughed, his posture relaxing, mirroring T’Challa as he brought his tea to his lips and sipped. “Oh...too many to count,” he replied, and rubbed his eyebrow lightly. “I used to teach the first section of composition back at McGill’s. No one wants to be awake at eight in the morning, much less discuss grammar. I had one student--a young man around nineteen--who would come into the classroom, clutching a coffee, and by half past, he would be asleep. I started to wonder if it was my lectures.”
T'Challa laughed at that; it was a slightly deep, rich voice so his laugh was equally as such, though he kept his volume appropriate for the coffee house. Being a quiet man in general helped.
"I have one student who always comes in ten minutes late, then sits in the back of the class as if I would think he'd been there the whole time." His voice still held his African accent, though it had been tempered from growing up in America. "He puts his head down and thinks he can get away with sleeping the whole class like with the previous instructor. Just as he's fallen asleep I call on him to answer a question I haven't even asked the class. I'm just waiting to see if he'll drop the course or actually learn something."
“Well, he still has a few weeks until the drop period is over,” Fraser pointed out, helpfully. He found T’Challa’s company to be easy and without expectation. As colleagues but in separate fields, their discussion had been fueled by mutual passions without the threat of competition. “I try to remain optimistic, also time the return of their first paper--which is always abysmal--to just before the drop period ends.”
T’Challa nodded at Fraser. “Thank you, that is good advice. I’m trying to change the perception that the class is no longer an ‘Easy A’ as an elective. I want my students to learn something, even if they might not use it for their particular major. One can be surprised at what can be learned in a class outside their discipline.” He took a long sip of his coffee. “Ah, this place was a good choice. I have never been here, but I think I will have to make regular stops here from now on. This is the best coffee I’ve had since moving here.”
“It is quite delicious,” Benton agreed. “And you are preaching to the choir, my friend,” he added, with a sympathetic smile. “But it could be worse. At least you’re not teaching a general education required course. And I hear the students at UCLA are quite bright, considering.”
T'Challa smirked a little and raised an eyebrow. "''Considering'? I don't know if I follow." He plucked a piece of the crumb cake before him and munched on the sweet hard crumbs, his favorite part.
“Oh, you know,” Benton gestured vaguely between sips. “American education, such as it is.”
Now both eyebrows went up. "I know the United States is not necessarily at the very top of the list, but from my personal experience this country does have an excellent educational system regardless. Are you saying Canada's is far superior?"
“Well, comparatively speaking, Canada ranks sixth in the global education rankings compared to the United States at twenty-three,” Fraser pointed out. “Although I will admit that there is perhaps an advantage to the fact that our country has roughly the same population as the state of California. However, considering California’s ranking at twenty-seventh among all fifty states, it certainly does seem to be an accomplishment.”
T'Challa nodded sagely. Then he smiled a small, amused smile. "Perhaps I should have gone to college in Canada, then. At any rate, the opportunities I have had here would have been impossible in my home country. I am grateful regardless."
Benton frowned and rubbed his thumb across his eyebrow. “Well, I was referring to K-12 education. Higher education is still considered to be American’s domain--and the UK, naturally. Oxbridge is still considered the pinnacle of university schooling, though the Western bias probably has something to do with its status. And anyway--regardless of your educational background prior to graduate school, the fact remains that your students are lucky to have such an accomplished professor. I was merely commenting that we are not so lucky to have them as students. But education today, unfortunately, is a product to be packaged and sold, and the country with the largest amount of consumers of that product is the United States.”
"Ahhh," T'Challa replied, realizing his misunderstanding. "Yes, well it is unfortunate for us. That is why right now I am thankful for new friends and good coffee to help assuage the frustration. And thank you for your kind words, Benton. Your students are lucky as well, though as you say, they unfortunately do not realize it. Education is a labor of love, my friend. If we do not man the wall of knowledge, ignorance will run rampant." Of course, it went unsaid that it more or less was anyway but they were doing their best. And at least at the college level the odds of having students that cared about what they were studying was significantly higher than in high school.
"Tell me, what do you do with your time off? I'm trying to find things to do when the students are off. I don't want to turn into a hermit with my books and documentaries." He chuckled.
Fraser regarded T’Challa with a slightly critical eye, then leaned forward, speaking confidentially. “Tell me, my friend, have you ever heard of curling?”