Thursday, September 11, 2014

A new school year

A new school year has begun.  It is my 52st school year to begin.  It still has a bit of excitement coupled with a smidgen of dread.

Every school year means a lot of work.  I worked hard as a student, and hard as a teacher.  Every school year is ripe with possibilities.  I will learn new things.  I will work, but I will grow.  It will be a shared experience.

My undergraduate class has met three times.  I have learned everyone's name, all 31 of them.  Some of them should be a lot of fun; others not so much. But G^d created them, UA enrolled them, and it's my job to induce as much knowledge into them as possible.  Some of them learn willingly, others not so much.

I will tire myself in this endeavor, but it is a good tired.  It is a tired with purpose and product.  I will learn, and it is good to learn.

Some things will surprise me positively, and some things negatively.  My students will experience the same.

Sometimes I don't like some students, and sometimes some students don't like me.  It is unpleasant to be disliked, but I tell myself that I did my best, and as the old chief  said in the movie, Little Big Man, "Sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn't".   We do our best, and the rest is in G^d's capable hands.

Let's pray that G^d does something special this school year whatever and wherever He may.

"Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind."  Eccl 12:12-13

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