Thursday, January 22, 2009

New semester gets underway



Well here we are at the start of a new semester--spring 2009.

The syllabi are all written and one hopes that at least a few eyes will grace their pages.

At Winthrop each course meets 28 times.

28 times to try to make a difference in a student's life.

28 times to come up with something imaginative or innovative (and also instructional) to make something good happen for my students.

28 times to be there on time (at least to beat my student there to the classroom). 28 times to stay a heartbeat ahead of the munchkins, as I always say.

And 28 times to learn all their names and get to know each one, at least a little bit, on a personal basis. (Interesting to note that this semester I have at least five students named "Brittany.")

A tall order--to say the least.

But I'm honored and lucky to be here at this university--even in our current downturn or slump in the economy. I remind myself that thousands of my counterparts--in the "real world" of journalism--have been laid off or even terminated (what an awful word!).

Winthrop is going through tough times--what with the nine furloughed days for all faculty and staff, but we're still here.

Still working and striving to make that difference in so many lives.

Challenging, but that's what we faculty and staff are all about.

Let the fun (and learning and exploring and dreaming) begin.

Good luck, everyone, in spring semester 2009.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for linking us. We are all glad you have a job at Winthrop, too, and that you're still enthusiastic about teaching. It helps, when we're discouraged too about the industry we're about to enter. Just a few more months...

carolina magic said...

Yep, just a few more months, Christy, and you'll be off to more important things in your life. It's tough out there, but you will prevail. Have faith. You have a lot of offer.