"She's a psychic!"

For my major, FACS, I took a lot of Child and Family Development courses. I took so many I gained a minor in CHFD. If I had planned accordingly, I could possibly have double majored. You need to know this because it will help with my story. I studied birth order and how it plays a role in a person's personality and behavior.

One day I was subbing in a freshmen math class. The students were instructed to remain in their assigned seats and work quietly on their packet. There was a student who could not stop talking. He kept the focus of the class, and my attention on him. With my back to him as I was taking a sip of water from my water bottle, I asked him if he was the youngest child in his family. When I turned around his mouth was wide open and the other students were watching him for his response.

"How did you know?"

"I studied birth order in college. I have a minor in Child and Family Development. Your personality and behavior in class were my clues."

Suddenly, other students in the classroom wanted me to guess their birth order. I'm not perfect at profiling, because it takes practice and experience. I was accurate for most, but not all.

I think it was a week later when one of those students was in my fourth block class. He turned to the student next to him and said, "Dude, this lady, she's a psychic! She can tell you your age, your birth order, your personality traits." The student went a little overboard.

"You're telling the story wrong! I'm not a psychic. I studied birth order and personality traits in college."

A student sitting on the other side of this student retelling the events of that math class asked me to guess his birth order. I knew the student fairly well and I glanced him over before I decided.

"You're a middle child."

"Dang it. You're right."

At least I can say I'm taking what I learned in college and applying it to life. Also, I'm entertaining students while they try to solve exponents.

~Jonnie