Even though the Thanksgiving holiday is much more stressful than it should be for those of us taking class--what with the seminar papers and poetry portfolios due the week we come back--I'm still grateful for the holiday, not only as chance to play catch-up on school work, but as a time to re-evaluate, re-assess, and give credit where credit is due. Therefore, I submit to you, in no particular order, ten things I'm thankful for this year.
1. My family. They may be trashy, and they may drive me crazy, but, by god, I wouldn't be who I am or where I am today without their sacrifices.
2. Friendship. I've more than learned this Year of Irrevocable Change that friends don't stay friends forever, but the moments their lives overlap are magic. And I'll always be grateful for the magic moments.
3. College scholarships and graduate assistantships. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd have gone as far as I have in school if I hadn't received so much funding from the powers that be. I'd definitely not be in grad school. As much as I try to stick it to the man, I must thank him (though I'd much prefer to think of the Scholarship Bestower as an earth mother-type) for taking a chance on a kid like me.
4. Poetry. I always liked it, but it wasn't until I was actually reading it and discussing it as an art form that I realized it can save the world.
5. Interlibrary Loan. Don't do research without it!
6. The All-Mighty MP3 Player. Every day I walk across campus, it's like I'm in a music video, and I love it.
7. My English 101 mentor. She's a wonderful teacher. She's a helpful classmate. She's a smart cookie, a good friend, AND a native Mississippian. What's not to love?
8. Graduate school. I have grown up more in a semester than I possibly did in four years of college. It was tough to leave Conway, to leave a life I was quite happy living, but I don't regret it. This train is only moving forward.
9. The University of Central Arkansas, the place where I came of age, where I found my voice, where I hated, then loved, myself enough to move on. More fond memories than not for UCA. Doin' in like a Big Bear since 2003 and still counting!
10. You, friend, classmate, mentor, reader. I'm thankful for your readership and your comments, for helping me along this part of Tim's Great Adventure. You're awesome.
And just a side note, I'm grateful for any author/poet who has a character named 'Tim' in her work, because I'm just narcissistic enough to love it when I see my name in print. :-)
Happy Thanksgiving.
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5 comments:
Ahhh, Interlibrary Loan. I would have its babies if I could... ;)
Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm thankful that I sat next to Tim's long-lost Caribbean brother on my flight back from San Diego yesterday. He talked fast, had a receding hairline, hunched his shoulders, had little Tim glasses, and was reading Noam Chomsky and Oscar Wilde. He was Tim Sisk, if Tim Sisk were from the island of Trinidad.
Commonplace books I am seeing as kind of a Comp II writers notebook. Students would collect information, ideally, and reflect on it as they go.
But right now, I am be looking at contract grading and a hybrid blog-based comp class instead. I am totally stealing the idea from Monda, but having student post their readings so that everyone in the class can read everything they write sounds good to me. I am still working out details.
You would think as long as I have been doing this, I would have decided how I want to change, but I keep changing how the class goes. *sigh*
I share your appreciation of Interlibrary Loan. Though I would probably not have children with it, I would strongly consider it. :D
I, on the other hand, love to hear my name (correctly pronounced) in song. And not just the famous one. As a tween I purchased a Jamaican pop tape because the big single was "Michelle," and I also convinced myself that many other songs were singing my name, such as Mr. Boombastic.
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