February 26 Day 355: Disappointment

After 4.5 hours on Zoom without pause, it was time to sign into a meeting with a student. I had reached out in concern and we agreed to meet at 5 pm tonight.

Can you guess the outcome?

To be fair, I was contacted and asked if we could change the time to Monday. It just happened during the 4.5 hours of meetings so I did not have a chance to read the request until it was too late.

I understand (or at least I think I do.) I feel shame when I cannot complete needed tasks. Sometimes avoidance is the easiest path to survival. Presently, I am struggling with deadlines, organization, focus, and conflicting priorities. I want to help this student succeed. Honestly, there is only so much of me to go around. Tonight I feel a little too thinly spread.

Shall we take bets on the success of Monday’s meeting?

Photo by mikoto.raw from Pexels

Published by Jenny Quinn

Mathematician. Mother. Wife. Leader. I am the Executive Director of Seattle Universal Math Museum after many years working as a professor of mathematics at the University of Washington Tacoma. Mother of Anson and Zachary. Wife to Mark. President of the Mathematical Association of America 2021-2022. Past-President of MAA 2023.

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