I'm a big ol' cornball

I've said it a gajillion times: I have the best students on the planet. Let me just say, my students continue to surprise and delight me in their caring, strength, intelligence and wit. More on that later, when things calm down.

Meh, I had an entire post written on language, but I decided to save it for a later date. Instead, let me tell you about our new discussion group. Over the years students have begged and pleaded with me to start a discussion group outside of class. They tell me they miss the class so much they want to be able to continue with the discussions. I thought about it, meant to do it, never got around to it. Finally, two students convinced me that I needed to do it on Friday. I had a "voluntary" class on Friday for anyone who wanted to come by for help with their papers; whenever I do this students tend not to show up. I can't blame them, I wouldn't show up either. On Friday, one of my former students was walking by and came in to say hello and to thank me for giving him a book at the beginning of the semester. A student who had not been there on Wednesday came in, not knowing we didn't have class. As the three of us were talking the conversation naturally turned to the class itself. The current student told me that not long before the semester began his mother had died and he had been having a hard time dealing with it. This young man is thoughtful and quite bright and I was sad to hear about his mother's death and his difficulty in processing his grief. The really amazing thing was, he told me that my class had been like therapy for him and that he had been able to understand his grief and move on to acceptance. Needless to say, I was thrilled to hear that. My former student told me that he had also found that his world view had been substantially broadened. Really, you can't receive better compliments from students.

After hearing these two young men talk about what the class did for them and how the former student missed the discussions, I decided, why not? I'll start a discussion group. I sent an email to all of the current and former students whose email addresses I still have (about three semester's worth) and to my friends in the area. So far? 40 have responded with the desire to be a part of the group. I am STUNNED. Oh! I just got an email from a student who had someone take pictures of us today. So cute! Yeah, I am a huge cornball when it comes to them. But look at how adorable they are! (I'm the red headed crip in the middle)

OK, I'll stop with the gushing now. Anyway, how exciting that we're going to have a group outside of class? I am simply thrilled and I can't wait to see my old students. We are going to have all kinds of philosophical fun!

Picture credit