What is going on??!! This is nearly the last day of the semester and we are still super busy. Usually we get a nice slow down during the final week. The weekend is hectic as students finish papers and study groups meet. The same for Monday, but after Tuesday, we usually dwindle to a handful of students who still need to finish. By Thursday only a few remain.
Not this year. We have been going full bore all of last week AND this! Here it is Thursday and the library is packed. Small groups huddle around coffee tables, deep in conversation about whether the professor will ask some question on the exam. Every computer station is occupied by students half buried in books, papers, notebooks and backpacks. No games or facebook are in sight. This is serious stuff.
True, the exam schedule is more evenly distributed throughout the week. But by now we should see a certain thinning out of at least undergraduate students. Many graduate programs are still in session, their finals not happening for another week or so. We will hardly catch our breath and fold away our caps and gowns before jumping into the summer session on Monday.
Its a bit unsettling, this constant rising of the semester workflow. Staff need some time to breathe. Already we have our summer projects planned, our student worker schedules set, our areas assigned. We were hoping for a few days to chill and just catch up, but at this rate there will be no downtime. Ah, well. I can't complain. At least we don't have to make any cuts this year. That's a good thing. I'll take busy any day of the week.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Honoring Faculty
"Are you going to the retirement event?" "Yes! Want to walk over with me?" My colleague and I head toward the Cultural Life Center where we find, in the atrium, a feast of fingerfoods including a chocolate fountain into which you can dip assorted fruits, pretzels, and cubes of angel food cake.
The space is abuzz with excitement as faculty gather to honor two of their own. Again this year I impressed by the accolades and jealous of the lifetime of accomplishments. I haven't even lived in the same city for four decades straight much less worked for the same institution. Of course, I wouldn't necessarily trade my adventures and exploration for their stable and familiar environment. Or the friends I have made along the way.
I have thoroughly enjoyed being immersed in new cultures and climates. Still, there is something to be said for continuity. It takes such a long time to really get to know how to do your work well in the specific environment you find yourself. That is, if you manage to not get stuck in a rut!
The accolades accorded to this year's honorees are intriguing. I would love to get to know people of this caliber better. A renaissance man who spoke to our seminary cohort, aka an Anglican priest. A Biology teacher who took a group of students to the Galapagos Islands one summer, aka a pastor's wife.
Though they are retiring, they will be around. Make a note. Ask to have lunch with them, just for conversation sake. Wonderful things can come of casual chat. Open up new worlds through another's eyes. Fabulous. Let's just hope our new hires are as amazing as our retirees!
The space is abuzz with excitement as faculty gather to honor two of their own. Again this year I impressed by the accolades and jealous of the lifetime of accomplishments. I haven't even lived in the same city for four decades straight much less worked for the same institution. Of course, I wouldn't necessarily trade my adventures and exploration for their stable and familiar environment. Or the friends I have made along the way.
I have thoroughly enjoyed being immersed in new cultures and climates. Still, there is something to be said for continuity. It takes such a long time to really get to know how to do your work well in the specific environment you find yourself. That is, if you manage to not get stuck in a rut!
The accolades accorded to this year's honorees are intriguing. I would love to get to know people of this caliber better. A renaissance man who spoke to our seminary cohort, aka an Anglican priest. A Biology teacher who took a group of students to the Galapagos Islands one summer, aka a pastor's wife.
Though they are retiring, they will be around. Make a note. Ask to have lunch with them, just for conversation sake. Wonderful things can come of casual chat. Open up new worlds through another's eyes. Fabulous. Let's just hope our new hires are as amazing as our retirees!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Bye Bye Wisdom
Kiel had all four wisdom teeth pulled. I smile indulgently as he assures me he is perfectly capable of driving himself there and back. After all, they will give him some lidocaine, what could be so difficult?
I got a cute text from him after the event. "All done. lybbn" (his code for love you, bye bye now). Twenty minutes later I get a call from Drew. He and Kiel are at the pharmacy filling Kiel's prescriptions. Kiel is desperate to take something NOW for pain since the lidocaine is wearing off, and he is not sure he will have enough money if the prescription is expensive. I instruct him to ask the pharmacist to sell him 1 pill and I will come in later to purchase the rest.
Now the moaning begins in earnest. This is definitely not what he had in mind. He really thought that the whole thing would be easier, despite watching me go through 3 separate occasions of tooth pulling and recovery. This is a far cry from what he anticipated. Oh, if only I could take the rap for him, I would. But he will have to get through this himself.
When I get home, he is sitting in a chair sipping soft stuff and singing the praises of Vicodin, the wonder drug of choice. He barely talks so as not to move his jaw, but he is in better spirits. The next week is a mixture of feeling better, feeling worse. While his cheeks didn't really swell up, the side with the most stitches is taking its time healing. He nurses it along, wishing for the healing to hurry up.
Everyone around him jokes about his loss of wisdom, but in truth, he has gained a great deal of experience and with that, wisdom in how to handle these sorts of things. Rough knocks, but unavoidable. Hopefully he will feel better soon.
I got a cute text from him after the event. "All done. lybbn" (his code for love you, bye bye now). Twenty minutes later I get a call from Drew. He and Kiel are at the pharmacy filling Kiel's prescriptions. Kiel is desperate to take something NOW for pain since the lidocaine is wearing off, and he is not sure he will have enough money if the prescription is expensive. I instruct him to ask the pharmacist to sell him 1 pill and I will come in later to purchase the rest.
Now the moaning begins in earnest. This is definitely not what he had in mind. He really thought that the whole thing would be easier, despite watching me go through 3 separate occasions of tooth pulling and recovery. This is a far cry from what he anticipated. Oh, if only I could take the rap for him, I would. But he will have to get through this himself.
When I get home, he is sitting in a chair sipping soft stuff and singing the praises of Vicodin, the wonder drug of choice. He barely talks so as not to move his jaw, but he is in better spirits. The next week is a mixture of feeling better, feeling worse. While his cheeks didn't really swell up, the side with the most stitches is taking its time healing. He nurses it along, wishing for the healing to hurry up.
Everyone around him jokes about his loss of wisdom, but in truth, he has gained a great deal of experience and with that, wisdom in how to handle these sorts of things. Rough knocks, but unavoidable. Hopefully he will feel better soon.
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