Thursday, August 24, 2006
First day of school
Thirteen brave souls traversed the first class of our Eckerd experience together last night. We went through general introductions, watched an interesting video interview with Vartan Gregorian conducted by Bill Moyer circa 1989. I will definitely be looking into Gregorian’s work at some point…the man made some very good points that are all the more poignant in our “Information Age” lives. In some ways, things were unfamiliar…I’ve never taken night classes or attended a college course on such an accelerated schedule before, but some aspects were utterly familiar to me. The white board, the tables arranged in rows with two chairs apiece, the notebooks, pens and book bags. I arrived on time, but was the last through the door and the 13th in the room, so I had to take a seat at the back of the room directly opposing the instructor’s table at the front of the room. What better place could there be!
There were no apples for the teacher, no pledge of allegiance, but that didn’t stop me from engaging in old school favorites like missing a homework assignment and misplacing my syllabus. Of course, I managed to stumble a bit out of the gate, as has been my habitual pattern since I first opened my eyes and unleashed my first shriek into this world. This is Erik in School and parts of it feel incredibly familiar. My good habits have gotten better with time and experience; I think faster on my feet than I ever did in my teens and felt much more comfortable engaging in the various discussions carried out throughout the night. Talking has never been a problem.
My Achilles heal has always been organization...which reminds me, the instructor (Miss Norcross, never Maam) has a torn Achilles tendon. Where I need my mind to be steady and solid, it has a tendency to jump and spurt from thought to thought, place to place. Subsequently, I left the first week’s reading materials and the class syllabus in my car, which would not be a problem were said conveyance not sitting at it’s second body shop, undergoing a fix to correct the work done at the first shop I used. I’ve left details of that saga off the blog and am far too bitter about the whole ordeal to chronicle it here, but if you have to know the details, drop me an email or catch me on AIM.
So then, my lack of organizational skills and attentiveness cost me the first essay assignment, as I missed it on the syllabus and simultaneously separated myself from the reading material needed. Not how I would have hoped to start things off, but then I was not particularly surprised. Luckily, this initial essay was a benchmark exercise rather than a graded assignment, so it will not count as points toward our class total
I was surprised at how quickly the night flew by. Class started at 5:30 and we were taking the half hour dinner break at 7:00 in what seemed like no time at all. Another ten minute break rushed up at 9:00 and we were on our way out of the door by 10:00. Maybe it was the lengthy and interesting discussion or the newness surrounding the entire experience, but it hardly seemed that nearly five hours had passed since I first walked through the classroom door.
The tempo of the class is going to be rapid and genuinely challenging. Several books and essays have to be completed in eight weeks, including a nine-page autobiography and a group project. Falling behind is not an option, so getting ahead of the course is my number one priority. Our primary objective is relearning how to author college level essays using the latest MLA guidelines for citation and structure. We will do this via papers geared toward self-exploration and reflection, which is right up my proverbial alley. I for one am looking forward to it…and I am already beginning work toward my next assignment. No more high school mistakes, I am way too old for that shit. :)
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That picture looks JUST like you!!
Haha I'm drunk.
G'night.
Thanks for sharing. That is actually a picture of me, circa 1995.
I'm so excited for you (and so proud of you)! If it's any help, I've never started a college semester without *something* happening whether it's forgetting my book or being late, or dropping everything off my desk, or being too sick to attend the first day. And I was an honors student. :) So you're off to a good start.
Also, I teach students about MLA and APA citations so when I get to work I'll email you my handouts and PowerPoint.
I'll definitely be in touch! I've got my Writer's Reference and a basic understanding, but it's been 10 years since I wrote a research paper, so there's a little rust to shake off. :)
Would definitely appreciate the handouts!