the first day

It was the first day of school, a day beloved by me and dreaded by others.  I always was eager to begin school, though a little sad at having to say farewell to the easy laziness of summer.  But I can only be idle for so long, and I always look forward to getting back to a structured, scheduled life.

And my students.  I can't tell you how much I love teaching, and how much I look forward to meeting each of my new students.  Getting to know them. Learning what kind of writer they are, what kind of person.  I like them a lot at this point of the semester, with their eager, young faces. Knowing that they likely have set goals for themselves that I can possibly help them accomplish.  It's a kind of delight, the new semester, and the fall semester is always more glistening than the spring.  Fresher.

I taught very early this morning.  Well, first days are usually all about taking care of business, passing out syllabi, learning names and faces.  I woke up at 4:50am, got in a 4 mile run (what?), and copied my syllabus before being in class at 7:30am.  Luckily, I'm a morning person, and teaching always fuels me with a kind of energy that's hard to find in a cup of coffee.

I'm sleepy now, though, and the day's barely half over.  I headed over to my new apartment office to try to work.  I organized the space as best I could, though I discovered the troubling absence of trash cans, file cabinets, and hand soap, and the even more troubling presence of spiders and dead bugs.  And the place is a bit filthy.  And empty--just me here all day.  I miss the camaraderie of my old office, with the regular stream of students and fellow TAs and faculty members wandering by and saying hello.  While I'm a bit (very) disgruntled by the change, I'm trying to make the best of it and be positive.  It'll only make me miserable if I dislike the space.  Luckily, I have other campus haunts and alternative working spaces.

This semester is all about trying to figure out a good schedule for myself, since I'm not taking classes any more, but I have to read a mountain of books.  But for today, I'm enjoying the first day.