Tag: university life
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Writing from the Classroom: Ailyn Hernandez-Bazan, First Generation College Graduate and Its Discontents
Ailyn Hernandez-Bazan was a student in Literature and Contemporary class, which I taught this spring. She is a first generation college student, a cultural phenomenon I know well–to be the very first to go away to college, and all that means, how it changes our relationships with our loved ones. It begins with thanksgiving, then rips through…
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Grading Their Final Papers–and the Semester Ends!
My students are now done with me. They handed in their final papers today, both classes–Literature and Contemporary Issues, and a Nonfiction Writing Workshop–and now can go on their merry way to sweat over other essays and papers and exams, oh my… But, I’m done. Oh yes, I have to grade the papers, and that’s…
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Who’s Driving That Damn Car?
I don’t know why, but the end of spring semester at the university is excruciating, for everyone. I talk with my colleagues, they’re all worn out from teaching. The students are exhausted. If you look into one’s eyes, you’ll see the images of seven to ten unwritten essays floating around in her skull. We are…
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Why Live? Good Question
It’s the end of the semester at my university, and I see near-horror on every single one of my students’ faces. Haggard, stressed, they walk the halls with a vacuous look, with nine essays and five exams whipping their minds into near-submission. Every fiber of their existence is as taut as a bow string; and…