For those accustomed to Big Thoughts and Crucial Issues in the blog, apologies. As this is posted I’m in Vietnam and not up to Big and Crucial. A more personal musing, instead.
I realized last week that I had only 6 sessions left with my world history class (now 4). And I realized, as I have often done in recent years particularly with undergraduate classes, that I felt at most ambivalent about the imminent completion. Of course it’s nice to have a change in routine, and not grading for several weeks is a real joy. But it’s also a bit sad to realize that I probably won’t see most of these students again, or at most in passing. It’s been a really pleasant class, with good discussions, a lot of apparently interested students, and some at least apparently nice people. One works with them pretty hard, and then the connection ceases. Sure, I still have a few former undergraduates with whom I’m in contact. (Once in a while, in fact, I meet a doddering former student from way back, and I confess I don’t always remember the name or face.) But it seems a slight sorrow that so many of them will simply disappear from view.
And with this in mind, another seasonal note. I always remember a quite rigorous history class I took as a sophomore. The professor was distinguished and demanding. Our schedule had us meet the Friday between Thanksgiving and the weekend, no big bother to me as I couldn’t get home. But he made it clear that if he had to show up, there would be something from that class session on the final — and indeed there was. Later I had the same guy in graduate school and we ended up corresponding after his retirement — not friends, but warm acquaintances. I even published one of his later articles, a pretty good one. So connections remain sometimes.
I agree. You have to remember that we spend hours with the students in class every week, week after week. We actually see them more often then they see their own relatives or we see ours. And often in a small classroom. I find this more important than anything else I do at George Mason. But somehow this gets lost in the hectic pace of life. Too bad. Even if you forget them, they don’t forget you.
I know this is a bit late, but I share the same sentiments. I remember some holiday seasons when I felt like my family wasn’t even my family anymore due to workload.