I’m sitting here in the university’s library café, drinking a cappuccino and staring out the window at all the snow that appeared in Nottingham yesterday. I’m also writing an essay on the 1937 Paris International Exhibition. It’s specifically focused on the Spanish Pavilion as piece of synthetic artwork.
Sometimes college stresses me out. Even after being immersed in it for almost three years now, I still wonder if I’m ever going to learn to be organized and prompt and neat about my studies.
Yet, there are also plenty of moments like this- moments when I’m typing away about the influence of Piccasso’s Guernica- and I realize that I love what I’m doing. I feel bad for people who don’t enjoy the academic setting, because even though I’m not one of those people who earned a 4.0 GPA in high school, I’ve always had this romantic view of learning and school that I hope I never lose. I like getting handouts and writing responses to things that I care about. I like making myself tea before class and drinking it while I take notes on the lecture. I like group discussions. I like it when there are so many good ideas floating around a room that I can hardly write fast enough to take them all down on paper. I like the first and last days of school when you are either excited for what the year is going to hold or proud of what you’ve finished. I like leaving a classroom feeling like I have been changed and challenged and handed the keys to something new all at once.
Reminder to Myself about School
28 Nov
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You make me miss college. If I had the money, I’d go get a master’s in literature or an MFA, just for fun.
I love school and learning and all that too. I guess that is why I chose to work in a school after college and why I have chosen to teach my own kids, and why I am teaching Sunday School at church and why I have stacks of books to read and why I love a good discussion and why I love waking up to NPR every morning… People who love learning find all sorts of ways to fill that feeling inside. Right now, those are a few ways I indulge my love of learning and of education.
I loved that comment, Heather- Such a good reminder that there are many ways to fill a life with learning (outside of the “classroom setting”).
Jen- I sometimes feel guilty that I’m going to get my master’s just because it will be fun. I probably don’t need it for any of the jobs I’ll get, but I love the idea of grad school!