Proud To Be Dinosaur Auntie

As a Dinosaur Auntie, I am proud to say that one of my greatest strengths must be my THICK SKIN.

It has taken me years to cultivate my layers of skin and grow my thick hide until I am no longer shy to speak up and ask when I don’t understand anything. I used to be easily embarrassed and would blush with my whole face turning crimson red. But now I no longer care what others think.

This thick skin and “Don’t Know, Just Ask” attitude has served me well, especially now that I have gone back to school, to be a student once again when I am now almost half a century old.

Early this year when I started my Visual Storytelling course, I opted to attend the face-to-face classroom sessions over the convenience of online zoom. I had self awareness and knew that as a slow learner I would definitely need physical on-the-spot help.

I am sure it must have been a culture shock for the millennial trainer to see a hand constantly shooting up to ask questions. But of course I was mindful not to interrupt the class and only raised my hand at the appropriate time.

As the lessons got harder, I progressed to waving both hands for S.O.S, whenever the trainer asked if anyone needed help and when I was truly lost or stuck. Having to wear a mask during these Covid-19 times certainly help to be courageous and “shameless”.

I am so grateful to the trainer for not judging me as some attention seeking auntie and for being so ever patient in helping me overcome my many senior moments. In fact, the trainer even encouraged those lost on zoom to follow my “pattern” and come to class and “yell” for help too, instead of keeping quiet so that he knows who needs help.

I must say that I am enjoying studying much more now as an adult than as a young student. The learning environment for adult students is so much more positively nurturing and enjoyable with lots of TLC and laughter. Everyone is genuinely encouraging and supportive in helping one another ride over the obstacles of this bumpy learning journey.

Unlike my memories of old school days, there is no temperamental teacher waiting to lash out at you for being slow, no competitive classmates wanting to compare marks for every test and no pressure to cram all that knowledge and achieve full marks for everything.

Just the simple joy of learning and the delight of discovering that I can still do something new at my age! It was such a thrill for me to see the colourful words I created flying all over my screen in my very first Adobe After Effects lesson. Some might think that this is the lamest motion graphics they have ever seen. But seriously who cares? What is important is I am happy.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/307896_c779a8057ffe48838aee6e715e28be8a/1080p/mp4/file.mp4