Back to School -- Oh, Wait, It's Midterm Already!

Yes, I realize it's been a long time -- almost two months exactly, to be precise. I've had a few ideas in my head to blog about, I've had David remind me that I could just put up a short post in less time than I spend reading others' blogs, and I do miss it. All I can say is that I've had BIG, MAJOR, AMAZING! things going on in my life lately. Oh, and then there's work (my "regular" job at the university) and school (my teaching job at said university).

I have started a post about it being back-to-school time at least three different times. It just seemed so repetitive to me. I like school. I love back to school. I love fall. I like to shop the back-to-school sections at all kinds of stores (Have you noticed that even places like Home Depot now have "back to school" sales? "Hey Junior, it's almost time for third grade to begin. Let's swing by Home Depot and pick up some carpenter's pencils and all the lumber you need to build us a deck!" How does that work, exactly?).

I've written that post. I think I've written that post each year that I've had this blog. So I didn't write it. And the blog sat silent.

Today, however, a few things happened that made me want to blog about school starting again even though I will be giving my midterm next week.

(1) My university is a mid-sized, urban, commuter campus. That means no dorms. Lots of people use that fact to define us as being in some ways different from your more traditional 4-year institutions. Not having dorms does impact the sense of community on campus. However, today I saw evidence of a universal university truth. The temperature plummeted here last night. It was 30 degrees this morning and it snowed for a brief time. I pulled my hood up and wrapped my scarf around my neck as I made my way to the student union for some hot chocolate and noticed that there were more than a couple of students who did not get the memo about the weather. I should not laugh at their misery, but there is something funny about a young adult person trying to look like they meant to wear shorts and t-shirt on a windy 30-degree day.

(2) My university has a prominent fine arts program. You cannot go more than a few feet or a few days without bumping into an art display, a calendar of dramatic performances, music recitals, dance performances, etc. Our urban-ness and geographic location also provide the university with tremendous diversity. So I'm in the union a little while ago to pick up some yogurt and I hear a musical performance. A group of musicians and dancers are performing classical Spanish guitar music with vocals and the occasional dancer. A large crowd was enjoying the performance. During a break between pieces, one of the guitarists took the microphone and began to explain who was present on guitar, on the drums, etc. He was particularly pleased to note the representation they had from various countries -- "We have someone from Spain, Brazil, here is Colombia, and Peru." One of the multiple guitarists chimed in with "And Iowa!"

(3) I listened for a couple of minutes and then headed back out into the cold because my office hours were about to begin. On my way across campus I swear I almost bumped into Jeff Spicoli from Ridgemont High.

I complain about my jobs from time to time just like anyone else. Everyone once in a while, though, I am reminded of how lucky and happy I am that I get to earn my paycheck on a university campus.