The end of the spring semester & what’s ahead

Well, we did it — we’ve made it through Spring 2014. After an endless winter that left everyone exhausted, another college semester is about to end. Yay!

I love this time in the teaching cycle. By now, my students and I know each other very well. The classroom has gotten noisy and cozy; no one is shy anymore. And once in a while, there’s the thrill of knowing that they’re actually learning something.

Of course, that thrill is why I love teaching. Here’s a little sketch I did that captures those inspiring moments:

 Haha!

This semester, I’m teaching three different classes at three different colleges. One course ends this week. Two more are over next week. The prospect of letting them go already has me feeling nostalgic. I will miss them…

As for what’s next, I’m pretty much taking the summer off to work on my book. While I’ve been chipping away at this project in between grading homework assignments, there’s still tons to do.

In preparing me for the mission ahead, my editor has been doing her best to sound encouraging. She talks to me like this: “That’s great, Betty! The material is really coming along! You are incredible! Now let’s go the next step and REWRITE THE WHOLE THING.”

Clearly, I will be home a lot in the weeks to come. This will be a new experience. I’ve never before given myself this sort of time to write. While I’ll miss the busyness of the classroom and all that youthful energy, I’m excited about the writing immersion process.

The big challenge I foresee is staying focused. Can’t let myself get distracted by other rites of spring. After all, the garden is screaming for a good weeding. I have to buy mulch too. Plus there’s the attic, which needs reorganizing…

What about you? Any rites of spring on your plate? I could also use any advice you have for sticking to the writing game plan.  :)

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Wednesday, May 7, 2014, 4:51 p.m.: My Spring semester NYU “Food Writing” class ended at 2:40 p.m. today. Keep scrolling…my students have left comments below. Click on the links to each of their names in each of their comments and you’ll find their personal blogs. Most of these websites were launched during the semester.

After class, some of us celebrated with a drink in Greenwich Village. Here’s our group shot. Gonna miss these journalism undergrads. We all grew a lot this semester, including me. My students taught me so, so much!