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Chilly Brrr!

30 degrees in the morning, and today's supposed to be about 60. How does one plan the fashion for the day? I go for layers, but even that doesn't help the most.

Props to my mom for sending me oatmeal cookies in the mail.




Almost W.E.E.K.E.N.D. it's WEEEEEEEEKEnd!

 
Who'd a Thunk: They Actually Like Kant

The day before a mini-break is to begin, I'm sort of trepidatious. Who'll show up to a 2pm class on a Friday? What if the terror (or perhaps boredom) struck into their souls by Aristotle keeps them away? I've only a small group to begin with...

The day before the reckoning, I had a moment. I was joined on the stoop outside of the department by a former student. She's quite brilliant, but not the most organized individual. She immediately gave me a hug and started talking a mile a minute about her semester and how her writing has improved and how my suggestions have really made an impact, etc. and then we continued to talk philosophy, and in particular Kierkegaard. It was a perfectly timed moment for me, since the past week or so (during mid-terms, and during Aristotle), it was a struggle to get just about any form of response from my students. There are people that I show up for, that I try to make philosophy interesting for. So after this conversation that made me feel like I've actually made a difference to 1 or 2 students in my time, I went to read some Kant and the NY Times Magazine article I'd paired with it. I made sure that I knew it inside and out, and more than that, that I had interesting things to say about it.

Friday, 2pm.
I was there, and more 9/14 of the class was as well. This I considered a minor victory, since one of the 5 missing had a family emergency. So strike that to 10/14. Not bad. Over Starburst, we talked about Kant, enlightenment, torture, and the need to ask difficult questions and to think for oneself. Before the class started, one of my students said, "This is my favorite class." I gave her a more than dubious look. To which another student replied, "She says that all the time. She really loves this class." More than this, we had a great discussion, and went through many of the important issues involved in the two pieces.

Here's to showing up, indeed.