Snakes

Each quarter my students are required to partcipate in a final group presentation. I split students up into groups of 3 or 4 and then assign them a disorder from the DSM-IV-TR. They must research the disorder and then provide the class with an hour long introduction to it. The projects are generally pretty good. Students are thorough and creative. I especially like this portion of the quarter, as I do not have to design lesson plans, lecture, etc. In addition, students have the opportunity to see what it is like to be in my shoes. They generally grow to respect how hard it is to be in front of the class.

Last quarter, I assigned one of the groups in my class Panic Disorder, which (duh) has a primary symptom of panic attacks. Earlier in the quarter, I made the error of discussing my fear of snakes. I explained what the sight of a snake does to me, how it makes me feel, etc. In accordance with my luck, one of the students I assigned to the panic disorder group just happened to work at the reptile museum. She and her group members got the oh-so-special idea of having me attend the museum and exposing me to a few snakes. Their hope was to induce a full-fledged panic attack in their instructor, which they would video tape and refer to throughout their presentation. Due to the fact that I am a chicken, I immediately declined their oh-so-generous offer. They were persistent though. One student, in particular, who just happened to be on my non-existent roster of students I really enjoy tried to make a deal with me: He said that he would face his fear of spiders (which they also had at the museum -- I do not know why) by holding a terantuala if I would face my fear of snakes. Not to be outdone by a 18 year-old, I agreed to his plan (with every secret intention of ditching due to 'scheduling conflicts' if I became too nervous).

I thought about it and then thought some more. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that I could not go to the museum as planned. I was just too fearful. Alas, I gave my word so I went (J came too). The whole morning is a lot to write about here, but I will say that I successfully touched some snakes. It was quite the victory for me. My students got some useful material for their presentations too (although no panic attacks on tape as they hoped).

It is because of my fear of snakes and the subsequent victory of sorts that I describe here that I can truly appreciate this video. I hope you enjoy it too. :)

(Thanks, B).