Times have been rather tumultous as of late for old tricky. New semester started today--teaching two classes this time around. A new institution, new students and a new drive, long and painful thus far, not to mention new material, have me scrambling. And I'm working more hours at the regular gig too. Maybe it will be good for me.
First day of classes at the large suburban university was ok. My first impression of the student body, gleamed mostly via my classes, is that they have managed to retain some semblance of traditional mores when most of their generation have not. We'll see if this impression holds up over time. They seemed perfectly willing to participate in class discussion and revealed themselves to be, as a group, partisan existential relativists consciously driven by a desire for material success that they are skeptical of but resigned to. Really. I was, on occasion, taken aback by the readiness with which they all staked out kind of a radical hopeless position. In terms of class, they are not, I think, the pampered wealthy kids of Emory, but firmly middle class suburban kids wanting to attain more. Also had just the right number of older students returning to school to make it a nice mix. All in all, I came away liking them and feeling encouraged about the prospects for the semester.
I have a long break between the morning and the afternoon class and spent it trying to get a feel for campus. It started to rain so I found a perch and sat for a while to people watch. At one point a seemingly blind girl I'd seen getting off the elevator, white cane in hand, walked by my seat and seemed to turn and look right at me as she passed. Perhaps she was not completely blind. It was kind of odd. Let me set that straight: she was not odd in the least, but the experience of it was momentarily disconcerting for me. I sat for a bit and she made several passes. I wondered if perhaps she was getting her bearings just as I was, but having to rely on more subtle features and landmarks required more repetitions in order to get the lay of the land. Then I wondered why I assumed that the absence of vision might make getting a feel for space a more "subtle" undertaking? I'd honestly like to know about that.
Perhaps the most enjoyable people watching moment was the young guy (typical kind of hip looking college kid) walking with hand crutches because his legs were a little out of the typical order. His t-shirt boldly proclaimed: "kiss my crippled ass." All in all the first day of school was a success, but the less said about the drive home on the interstate the better. I'd forgotten how much I hate certain things about Atlanta.
