When we were kids, we never wanted to learn and go to school. Given the complexity of the task of getting kids to do something they don’t want to do, it often requires some kind of trick. For example, many elementary teachers will find ways of incorporating “play” into the school work, so the kids will be more engaged in learning without realizing that what they’re doing is learning. However, in adulthood (and specifically college student life), it’s become the opposite problem. Sometimes we as students have to trick ourselves into playing. Our brains have become so transfixed with work, and a fear of procrastination that we forget that sometimes play can be work as well.
An example from my personal education experience, a trick that I use is giving myself breaks while writing an essay, such as rewarding myself with an episode of a Netflix show after each paragraph I finish. It’s a way of being my own trickster. I make something fun, like watching Netflix, a part of my writing experience. It makes the long and arduous process of work seem easier. The example used in Trickster at Your Table by Geller, et al. is a game of scrabble used to improve a multilingual student’s English vocabulary. To the non-observant eye, a game of scrabble is merely a game, and unrelated to working on an essay. However, sometimes disguising work this way can be very beneficial. It can be particularly helpful to the stressed out college students that have so much work on their plates. Like the article says, “The Scrabble game, in this instance, supports conditions that allow tutors to work in alternate ways with writers.” (Geller, et al. 17) Sometimes the basic, by-the-book methods of learning are just bullshit.
Also, just for fun: a really bullshit moment I had in college was this class that I had for Fall 2019. It was a really good class since it covered many requirements for me. The professor wanted us to be fully prepared for our final paper (which should’ve been quite beneficial), but what was bullshit is she made a full rough draft due on Thanksgiving (it was a 8-10 page paper), and she said she wasn’t even going to read it! We would receive no feedback about it whatsoever. We basically just had to write a 2,000 word paper for a 10 point participation grade. I revised it on my own since I received no feedback for it. That was definitely bullshit. I will call that.
Works Cited
Geller, Anne Ellen, et. al. The Everyday Writing Center. Utah State UP, 2006.
The Blog of Catie Pfeiffer 
Like the moment you cite in “Trickster at Your Table” we do often have to trick ourselves into playing just to get through a task. I love that you found an example in your own school life. On your next post, remember to include a Works Cited entry for your in-text citation.
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