Thursday, September 10, 2009

It's a new dawn, a new day, a new life...

Okay, so what happened to summer? I woke up this morning to find that everything was cold, just a couple of degrees away from frost on the ground and ice in the toilet. Seems I went to sleep in summer and woke up in autumn. It’s been cold for over a week now, and my brain has already clicked into autumn mode.

And so yesterday was the first day of classes at Memorial University. The strangest part about being back on campus was that it felt as if I’d never left. The summer was brutally short—I just have vague memories of a lot of writing and some family events, interspersed with cold weather and occasional warmth.

Walking from my office on the fourth floor of the Science Bldg. to my first class on the fourth floor of the Education Bldg., I was thinking about what I would say to my students. I mean, you walk into a class and see all these new faces, some eager to be starting something new and challenging, a new chapter in life, and others wishing to God they’d stayed in bed and maybe applied for the military or a Academy Canada. Sometimes, you get both, of course—the person who knows this is a great experience but already wishes it was Christmas so they could just go home and be with their families.

But it’s the same every fall. Mostly, the students have trepidations and yet are in this for the long haul, ready to get something out of it, knowing that—unlike high school—these really are the best years of most people’s lives. They really are. I don’t mean that every person’s experience is completely positive. Some people even go through some pretty serious stuff. But everything you do in first-year university is heightened and seen somewhat through a glass, darkly at times. It’s a bit like Christmas in that it doesn’t feel quite real to be here doing all this cool stuff and scary stuff and all the amazing thing you ever dreamed of, planning the rest of your life and hanging out with people of your choosing, rather than just the ones you happened to find yourself sharing a locker with or living next door to.

I know I’m an optimist, but I’m old enough now that I know it’s a permanent condition. Sure, I’m a realist and a skeptic. For example, I take a wait-and-see attitude towards ghosts, aliens, and the Maple Leafs ever winning the Stanley Cup again. And yet I’m optimistic enough to think that both ghosts and aliens could be out there somewhere. I just need to see for myself because I don’t rely much on other people’s experiences to inform my own reality.

But I do believe the best in people, and just from looking at the groups I have in my classes this year, I can already tell it’s going to be fun. It won’t all be great and there will be plenty of times of worry and concern, both for me and for my students, but I’m looking forward to an extremely enjoyable semester. Plenty of students smiled as I called their names and a lot of them stopped and said a few words or, again, just smiled on their way out the door. That lets me know that they’re at least not scared of me or of the situation—or if they are, they are at least willing to give it the old college try.

I’ve been told a lot in my teaching career that you should “never let them see you smile on the first day”. Well, you know what? That’s the most foolish piece of advice I’ve ever heard. To me, the best advice is to try to be natural and yourself, and that way you don’t have anything to make up for, or apologize for, later. Being yourself is probably about the hardest thing there is to be, especially in a public situation—and I’m not just talking about me. I’m mostly thinking about people in general and students in particular.

The hardest thing about it, really, is just figuring out who you are in the first place. And sometimes that is exactly what you’re supposed to be doing at this point, in first-year university: figuring out who you are. Sure, you have a good idea by now, or at least I hope so. But you’ll encounter a lot of course options, people options (should I sit near the same crowd as last time or find a crowd that at least has something in common with who I think I am?), credit card options (to apply, reject, spend, over-spend, pay the minimum, or pay it off completely each month), and what to do with your time (studying, working, playing, relaxing, movies, and any number of adult-type activities). It’s all up to you. And every choice you make, and how you ultimately react to the consequences of that choice, decide not only who you are, but who you are on your way to becoming.

I always pose a question to my students on the information sheet I asked you to fill out and pass in: “Why are you here?” Most just say they want to get an education and get a job. Many say they want to learn to be better writers. Others say they haven’t a clue while others say the course was recommended by a friend or family member. The occasional student says something about wanting to find out what to do with their lives and to experience as much as possible in life, including talking about great literature and great ideas. It’s all good. What I mostly look for is how you interpreted the question and whether you acknowledge or recognize that there are multiple possibilities available to you: choices. How you interpreted it says more about you than what you said.

The answers might change in time; they usually do. But the questions are often eternal.

Have a truly great semester.

If you’re one of my students this semester, keep checking back here now and again. There’ll be lots of stuff on here that might interest you or help you out a little in your endeavours to become a better writer and thinker.

If you’ve been following all along and are no longer a student of mine (or never were), hang in there. I’ll still be riffing on everything from why anyone should care about Jon and Kate marathons to why is Bob Dylan doing a Christmas album. Or maybe the questions themselves serve my purpose. Maybe it’s best not to dwell on certain subjects. Could lead to a headache.

Talk to you soon.

GC

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to hear you're thoughts on the new Dylan album, haha. I was a bit shocked yet excited all at the same time. I really hope he's not selling out. It could be that hes just seeding a new change, all the proceeds are goin to feed the hungry and all.

Anywho, good to know you're class is going well so far, I tried to look for you're 1101 class this year but you must not have been teaching one.

Best of luck

Alex from 1080 last winter

Gerard Collins said...

Hey, Alex. Great to hear from you. Not teaching 1101 this term, probably next term though (maybe).

I don't question Dylan's motives. If he's doing Christmas, there's got to be an artistic upside. Don't think I wanna hear it though. I mean, his real name is Bob Zimmerman, born Jewish. Not that a dude can't convert, but it feels wrong somehow. Maybe he really loves the reason for the season, I dunno. I'm just not ready to hear those vocals on those particular songs, that's all. If there's a good one on iTunes I might download it for kicks. That's about it. You buying it?

Hope you have a great semester. Did you find an 1101 to do?

Anonymous said...

I'd say ill probably pick it up, kind of hoping he comes back here for another show, I wasn't really into him when he was here a couple years back.

As for the 1101 thats bad news I was lookin forward to listenin to you again, I spose this will have to suffice haha. But yeah, I'm taking Carolyn Colberts class, she seems pretty interesting. we will see how it goes.

alex

Anonymous said...

Re: Dylan

Final years often lead to desparate acts.

Just a thought.

Regards,

Colin Wilkie
Dublin, Ireland

Gerard Collins said...

True. But they're all final years, technically speaking. We should be desperate always.

How's Dublin, Colin?