asking questions
College and high school are vastly different; the large lecture hall heeds silence as social etiquette: a lecture is a stage performance. "Any questions?" are fading slowly. This was a style that took time for me to adapt (I resorted to simply ask the professor/s directly). Everything is, by design, rigid and certain.
Yet I miss the spontaneity. I've become accustomed to having B. capable of seemingly always having something to say, the teacher will go slightly off-the-track or a discussion will suddenly spark even if momentarily. When I look back, this quality is what I greatly admire from B.
B could stare at an unknown void, looking to carefully string words a question with the lack of ego. Sometimes what he has to say make everyone cackle but the answers may or may not surprise us. Everybody becomes engaged.
Now B. isn't the only one to do this. There are other 'askers' in the classroom (including myself) but what sets B. apart is his ability to turn the class into a podcast where he acts as a host (another student may get roped in); you get to hear his thoughts out loud which are now being guided. I learned more from the engaged discussions than had it was held purely as a lecture.
All in all, what B. did was creating a warm atmosphere.
Now, not everybody can pull this off. B had a knack of asking good, interesting questions (that weren't for the giggles). Hence my looking back and admiring what B have done. I can't exactly emulate B but it is without a doubt has been a great influence to me.
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Ultimately, I don't really think college really enables that by design. Perhaps this is what becoming an adult is.
I raised my hand, asked a question in a lecture. The silence behind didn't feel nice. Perhaps knowing I don't know everyone present in the room makes me uncertain of the vibes. I don't know