New Meat
Posted 08-30-2010 at 04:45 PM by EmmyNoether
Today the undergraduates started their first day of class. For me, it meant that before my 10:20 class, I had 10 students sitting in the seats. There was an additional 20 more students standing outside the classroom and I wasn't sure if they were waiting on me or on the room right next door. It occurred to me that the burbling of voices in the hallway just might be my remaining 20 students. I open the classroom door and leaned out a bit and asked "are you all waiting for Math 132?" they said, "yes...." I couldn't stop the giant smile from attacking my face as I said, "well, come on in!" This is the first time I have witnessed 20 odd people standing outside with their backpacks and fresh faces full of excitement waiting for the 'bell to ring.'
I got a good vibe from them, even on the first day. I feel like this semester might just turn around my feelings about teaching as they seemed to A. get that I was being funny and B. not be scared that I was asking them to shout out answers to easy questions. Definitely a good sign. Now I don't know if it was the first day excitement wearing off on me, or what, but I actually rather enjoyed meeting this over-sized class - I have no clue how I am going to memorize all of their names. I'll be honest, there have been other times that I have taught 25+ students, and I don't learn all their names....
So, I left my classroom feeling rather good about my class, lecture, day, etc and another first occurred. I was walking through the freshman part of campus to get back to my car when I passed a small cluster of rather rambunctious individuals wearing wife beaters and backwards hats. Actually, what made me notice them in the first place was their machismo proverbial chest beating that I could hear long before I could see them. I passed this shrewdness and was about 20 feet from them when I heard a thud, felt a light spray of something on my ankle and in mid-stride stepped on an orange. From the trajectory and speed of its flight, I knew that from within that brood its origin lay. One of the apes even yelled, "hey, you dropped your orange!" in some attempt to get me to turn and look at them. I debated for a hot-second the prospect of pelting the split orange at them, but thought the better of it lest I got found out by some university official. I shook my head at this 5th grade attempt to get my attention and start a conversation.
I walked away thinking about how strange it is that these blossomed high school students who grow up idolizing Animal House and American Pie truly believe in the message that they will become unstoppable sex-gods once they matriculate into college. It didn't seem to be isolated to just the freshman part of campus, either. When my boyfriend and I went to pick up his books at the bookstore, we thought about getting some sandwiches near by. However, we lost our appetite as we suffocated on the aroma of testosterone and sweat in the free for all meat market that had overtaken the student center. I always seem to forget how pungent the first weeks of classes are. It can be entertaining as a social experiment. However, just like any other experiment gone haywire, it can be both frightening and disturbing in its intensity.
I got a good vibe from them, even on the first day. I feel like this semester might just turn around my feelings about teaching as they seemed to A. get that I was being funny and B. not be scared that I was asking them to shout out answers to easy questions. Definitely a good sign. Now I don't know if it was the first day excitement wearing off on me, or what, but I actually rather enjoyed meeting this over-sized class - I have no clue how I am going to memorize all of their names. I'll be honest, there have been other times that I have taught 25+ students, and I don't learn all their names....
So, I left my classroom feeling rather good about my class, lecture, day, etc and another first occurred. I was walking through the freshman part of campus to get back to my car when I passed a small cluster of rather rambunctious individuals wearing wife beaters and backwards hats. Actually, what made me notice them in the first place was their machismo proverbial chest beating that I could hear long before I could see them. I passed this shrewdness and was about 20 feet from them when I heard a thud, felt a light spray of something on my ankle and in mid-stride stepped on an orange. From the trajectory and speed of its flight, I knew that from within that brood its origin lay. One of the apes even yelled, "hey, you dropped your orange!" in some attempt to get me to turn and look at them. I debated for a hot-second the prospect of pelting the split orange at them, but thought the better of it lest I got found out by some university official. I shook my head at this 5th grade attempt to get my attention and start a conversation.
I walked away thinking about how strange it is that these blossomed high school students who grow up idolizing Animal House and American Pie truly believe in the message that they will become unstoppable sex-gods once they matriculate into college. It didn't seem to be isolated to just the freshman part of campus, either. When my boyfriend and I went to pick up his books at the bookstore, we thought about getting some sandwiches near by. However, we lost our appetite as we suffocated on the aroma of testosterone and sweat in the free for all meat market that had overtaken the student center. I always seem to forget how pungent the first weeks of classes are. It can be entertaining as a social experiment. However, just like any other experiment gone haywire, it can be both frightening and disturbing in its intensity.
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