I believe everyone has mush faked at some point in their lives. That is because of the simple fact that we are born knowing nothing and are constantly shaping and developing existent and new skills. Whatever that skill is, whether teaching, selling, working... anything, you start knowing absolutely nothing about it and therefore you have to mush fake it! Like they say, fake it till' you make it.
A time where I mush faked before building the identity kit was at my first job tutoring my neighbor's kids for algebra and geometry. It all started with my dad telling my neighbors how great I was doing in my math class which was not the case with my neighbors. He offered to pay me $15 for every hour that I taught them. So without giving it second thought I agreed and went to my neighbors home for the first time.
I honestly did not know what to expect. I definitely had helped my own friends with their math homework and had not problem doing it, but not people who I didn't know too well like it was the case with my neighbors. I remember having a tutor once when I was in 7th grade. This guy was waaaaaaaay older than me, probably about 25 at the time I was like 12. This guy would be like a regular teacher to me, he would ask me to pay attention and get serious when I started day dreaming or so. I wondered whether me tutoring my neighbors would be more like this, or more like I taught my friends. On one side, I was the same age as my neighbors, so I would expect to feel some awkwardness if I asked him to stop playing around and do their work, I felt like I did not have that authority over them. On the other hand, I was getting paid and expected to do my job and teach them effectively.
Good thing I quickly built my identity kit. It consisted of half a friend and half a tutor. It was nothing like the tutor I had when I was in 7th grade, but also was different than helping my best friend with his math homework. We would make jokes every once in a while (something I did not do with my tutor) but also get serious and get work done.
I also think he mush faked his identity as a student... or friend? He started out as if I was his high school teacher giving him tutoring but I think he quickly noticed none of us were comfortable with that, and quickly adopted out half-friend half-tutor/student identity kits respectively.
I’ve lived most of my life by the saying, “fake it ‘til you make it” even though I haven’t always been the best at concealing my true feelings. Don’t you hate it when your parents volunteer you for things? Lol like please no. But it sounds like you figured out something that worked for you and your neighbors and that’s a really good example of how muskfaking can turn into a learning experience. You weren’t sure how to approach the situation at first, but you tried something that turned out to not work so you tried something else that ended up working for your benefit and theirs. Alex DeMarco
ReplyDeleteHello Santiago!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your blog I gotta to say that I can relate to what you went through. On my blog on this subject I talked about my experience when I first worked at my YMCA. At first it was a big challenge of having to learn of not only taking care but also teach them responsibilities that they were not use to knowing in order to better themselves in school. Teaching in general is hard but with enough practice eventually all of it will pay off and in your case you did got payed. Adapting to certain situation to overcome it is what mushfaking is about.
Well that is all from me your fellow,
David Bobadilla
Interesting post. It reminded me of the time I tutored a little kid in reading. I was totally making up everything as I went. But the money was good, and I was a young college student who needed the money. I think I helped, but I don't really know.
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