As someone whose life still revolves around academia at the age of 28, I find that Fall, rather than Spring, is my season of renewal. The inauguration of new exploits, the introduction of new people, and the opportunity to begin again all come with the arrival of a new school year.
This year is no exception, as I am embracing a new avenue of part-time employment and with it a new and different academic setting. I have taught labs and co-taught courses before at USC, but this fall I will be an adjunct at Midlands Tech, teaching a lab and a lecture, although not for the same course. I am ridiculously excited about this, as I do truly love to teach, and that wasn't an option at USC this semester. It's also another semester that I hold on to my love of biology and share it with students.
A new year also means a whole new crop of students in the courses that I study at USC as part of my research job. Last year we had a number of unexpected challenges and difficulties, but I'm hoping that through those experiences, I learned enough to troubleshoot many of them this year. We have about 700 students in one of the courses alone, so unexpected problems will undoubtedly arise, but hopefully they will not be systemic like last year. Here's to learning from your mistakes!
As for my own academic pursuits, I'm enrolled in Spanish 375E, which is a special topics class in Caribbean lit and film. I downloaded the syllabus yesterday and immediately thought, "Oh dear Lord, what was I thinking?" However, after the class today I'm feeling much better about the whole situation because the readings aren't as hard for me as I thought they would be and I understood 95% of what the professor said, even though he speaks rather quickly. We have a presentation to do and a final paper, and I think I may have some potential topics of interest for those already. Hint, music + race. Oooh. As a sidenote, the wrong classroom was listed on the syllabus, so I went there. After about 10 minutes (I was 15 minutes early of course), I decided to check online to see if the room was right. It was not. The room listed online was in fact on the other side of campus, so I hightailed it through the afternoon heat and was only a few minutes late. Turns out that if I had been less prepared and not looked at the syllabus, I would have been fine. I wonder if that's a signal that I should calm down a little?
Finally, I am digging myself out of my relationship dumps and seeing my current situation for its possibility, rather than its previous disappointments. I won't say too much because I don't want to jinx anything, but it turns out that things just might be a good fit for someone with a schedule as busy as mine.
I don't think that much has actually changed in my life in the past week, but there's something about the new semester that just screams possibility and renewal. It hits you over the head with it, and you've got no choice but to look to the future rather than longing for the past or obsessing about the present. Sometimes that's just the kick in the butt I need. It really is unfortunate that August only comes around once a year.
This year is no exception, as I am embracing a new avenue of part-time employment and with it a new and different academic setting. I have taught labs and co-taught courses before at USC, but this fall I will be an adjunct at Midlands Tech, teaching a lab and a lecture, although not for the same course. I am ridiculously excited about this, as I do truly love to teach, and that wasn't an option at USC this semester. It's also another semester that I hold on to my love of biology and share it with students.
A new year also means a whole new crop of students in the courses that I study at USC as part of my research job. Last year we had a number of unexpected challenges and difficulties, but I'm hoping that through those experiences, I learned enough to troubleshoot many of them this year. We have about 700 students in one of the courses alone, so unexpected problems will undoubtedly arise, but hopefully they will not be systemic like last year. Here's to learning from your mistakes!
As for my own academic pursuits, I'm enrolled in Spanish 375E, which is a special topics class in Caribbean lit and film. I downloaded the syllabus yesterday and immediately thought, "Oh dear Lord, what was I thinking?" However, after the class today I'm feeling much better about the whole situation because the readings aren't as hard for me as I thought they would be and I understood 95% of what the professor said, even though he speaks rather quickly. We have a presentation to do and a final paper, and I think I may have some potential topics of interest for those already. Hint, music + race. Oooh. As a sidenote, the wrong classroom was listed on the syllabus, so I went there. After about 10 minutes (I was 15 minutes early of course), I decided to check online to see if the room was right. It was not. The room listed online was in fact on the other side of campus, so I hightailed it through the afternoon heat and was only a few minutes late. Turns out that if I had been less prepared and not looked at the syllabus, I would have been fine. I wonder if that's a signal that I should calm down a little?
Finally, I am digging myself out of my relationship dumps and seeing my current situation for its possibility, rather than its previous disappointments. I won't say too much because I don't want to jinx anything, but it turns out that things just might be a good fit for someone with a schedule as busy as mine.
I don't think that much has actually changed in my life in the past week, but there's something about the new semester that just screams possibility and renewal. It hits you over the head with it, and you've got no choice but to look to the future rather than longing for the past or obsessing about the present. Sometimes that's just the kick in the butt I need. It really is unfortunate that August only comes around once a year.
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