The bell rings

May 11, 2009

I was up at 6:30, out the door at 7:15 and in Room 534 of the Alt Building at D’Youville College at 7:55. I have to say the first day of graduate school classes was fairly exhilarating. I’d say my performance was pretty good. I participated in class discussions and group activities, talked to some classmates from Canada and schmoozed with the professor for a while. All in all, not too shabby for the first day of school in 32 years.

I don’t feel overwhelmed by the assignments, but it’s early in the game. I have my week planned out to cover all my assignments and hopefully will start my classroom observation sometime this week, either in Williamsville or at Bishop Timon-St. Jude, whoever will take me quickly.

My graduate classmates seem to have respect for me. Most were fairly impressed that I was back in academia. I even heard one say, “It just goes to show you that it’s never too late.” I’m the oldest of the 16 students. There are probably three women in their 30s or early 40s and the rest are traditional students. We had to carpool to get our textbooks during lunch break, and I jumped in the car with three Canadian women! It certainly is more exciting and different than sitting in a stagnant newsroom all day.

I didn’t feel out of place or uncomfortable. It also felt good to be out of the house and busy – to be part of a community, to be interacting with people. I did learn quite a bit, too. I actually absorbed a good amount of expertise about being a good teacher. I'd say my professor is very solid.

On the work front, I still have this big freelance writing assignment to do – if only these corporate CEOs would send me back the surveys with answers. Also, another little freelance editing offer came in, but now I think I want to concentrate on academics.

My spirits were definitely buoyed today. I hope it continues. I have to teach for 10 minutes next Monday in front of the graduate class. I feel pretty confident about that. I’m not going to stress about the schoolwork. It all will get done, and let the grades fall where they may.

I’d give my first day of school an A.