I was feeling ready for fall and scarves and pumpkins and hot coffee and all that, but Labor Day weekend was so devastatingly beautiful that I woke up with a real crisis of seasonal consciousness. No! Not summer! Not over, not already!
I know it's "technically" summer until the end of September, but today also happens to be the first day back at school aka summer's death knell. Sorry, summer, you're out. Routines and seriousness and boot socks are in. Normally I'm okay with this. By the end of August I'm sick of my summer wardrobe and what the humidity does to my hair. But I have to be honest, this year I'm in a bit of a panic. Last night my husband took me out for a back-to-school dinner and I, ever the dutiful nerd, spelled out my personal, professional, and academic goals for the year. I felt eager, happy, ready.
But what started out as an early morning of first-day excitement and anticipation slowly devolved into a rainy mess of traffic and stress. The muffler fell off my husband's car and I had to skip the afternoon faculty reception to speed home to loan him my car. Checking email yielded several messages: 10 overdue library books that have reached their limit of renewals, a rejected journal article, a slightly alarming bank statement, an over-enrolled course that somehow grew overnight from a manageable 14 students to a maxed-out 22 and counting...
It is far too early in the semester to concede to stress. I write this down not to commemorate a frustrating start to the semester, but to remind myself that there are days like this and that's...okay, in a whatcanyoudo sort of way. In a letmeputonyogapantsandremembertobreathe sort of way. There are also days like this past weekend: family, friends, Portuguese malasadas, boat rides, ocean views, sunsets, patio mojitos.
There, all better.
Oh man, 22 students? My intro to writing class has 32! Sooooo many papers to grade to for one class. Plus, I feel like a jerk because I'm having a hard time remembering the names of the quiet kids.
ReplyDelete32 is a lot! I will shut up about my 22. I love meeting them all, but yes, the grading and reading student work will take every hour of the day if you let it. I have an Attendance app that I love (I think it's just called "Attendance") that lets you include students' photos next to their names. It's a good ice breaker because they laugh and pose while I promise not to share the pics of Facebook, and then when I read their first day essays I look at their photos to try to put the name with the face.
DeleteGood luck with your writing class!