The Orientation Express

Sorry for lack of updates in the past few days. This was the first week I worked both of my seasonal, part-time, temporary jobs: busy from sun-up through sun-down. I admire all moms--well, all people, actually-- who work 8:00-5:00 and also find time to take care of their homes, themselves, and their families and friends. I tried to find time to do all that stuff, and by the time I felt I did it all adequately (not excellently) I was totally exhausted.

Teaching goes fine. I think my students are slightly shocked by how much work a summer class is. They just turned in their first 5-page paper (and they have two more 5-pagers to go, plus an 8-page annotated bib); and while they're breathing easy for the weekend, I am not. I hated taking summer classes as a student. In graduate school, I did one summer course, and ended up with severe migraine headaches as a result of the stress. I do think that my students are slightly unaware of how much work a summer class is for the teacher-- they only have to write the papers; I have to mark and grade every single one. I was not up-to-the-minute on grading this week... (utter failure! But I did complete a few other tasks: watching the LOST finale, taking my kid to the park, and attending a cocktail party at my friend Kristen's house).

Academic orientation is another type of adventure. Teaching feels old hat compared to this. Why? Well, for a few minutes each orientation day, I have to speak to a large group of parents about how much the students themselves, and we as a university, appreciate their involvement in their students scholastic goals. I have to talk about how we, all the staff and faculty here at CMU, are dedicated to their students academic, personal, and social success. And while all those things are true, more or less true depending on the day, when I look around at that room of incoming freshmen, I can already tell who will make it and who won't.

Example: I was advising a girl about her fall schedule, and she mentioned that she wanted to go to Europe to get a culinary degree. After I spent awhile with her chatting about the BS in Business Administration with a major in Hopsitality (she liked the idea), I asked why she chose to come to CMU instead of first choosing to earn the culinary degree. She wasn't ready to be so far away from home, she said, so it made sense to do it in this order. How is coming to CMU any closer to home? What's the key difference between a three-hour drive and a six-hour flight when you're aching for home? The feeling will persist, no matter the distance, right? Anyway...

My orientation uniform is a khaki skirt, a maroon clip-on nametag-- it says ANDREA DEVENNEY, ACADEMIC ADVISING AND ASSISTANCE--, and a maroon polo shirt with the CMU crest on it. It's very preppy. I even wore panty-hose. And a belt. God, I hate those things-- both of them.

Evan is with my mom and dad for Memorial Weekend. I plan to catch up on grading and sleep, though not necessarily in that order.