First day of classes! …

First day of classes! Yes, I am such a geek. After god, what, thirty years of being a student, and twelve years of being a teacher (overlapping some), I'm still totally excited for the first day of classes. It's just so full of possibility, you know? New faces, new ideas, the possibility that I'll actually communicate something interesting to a student, or that they'll do the same for me. And then there's the intensity of it, the wondering how I can possibly fit everything I want to show them into sixteen short weeks -- I know some people kind of wander in on the first day, hand out a syllabus, wander out again, but I've never been that teacher. I hit the ground running, and drag my students with me, kicking and screaming if need be. So here we are again, and if any of my students stop by to check out their new professor, hello, hello, hello! Welcome! Pull out your pencils, buckle your seatbelts, hang on tight! We're going to have a fun ride!