Hello from the corner of my study,
It is only the first couple days of classes and already the amount of "snafus" which have occurred, and unfortunately seem to be a constant first week of the semester companion have come again!! The one thing I could imagine as being worse at this point would have to be one of the D2L administrators on campus. While it is not their fault-it is further up the line-the amount of crap they have probably had to put up with during this week would be horrendous!!!My hat is off to them and my heart certainly feels pain for them.
It has been cold here in Northern Wisconsin and it is supposed to be really cold (15- or so) tonight. It is also amazing clear and there is a slight breeze which will make it even colder. I do love the beauty of the snow and the brilliance of the moon on the lake. Today was the second day of the semester, but my first new day of class. Wow!! I spent literally 100s of hours working in D2L, the course delivery tool over the break, I do hope it will make a difference in the work of the semester, but more importantly it will assist my students. I received the most uplifting email from a parent today about her young person who I had in class last semester. She wrote, "
On more than one occasion, I have listened to [my _______] express how you have made a difference in life. Without you, ___ would have been a mere hamster on a wheel. You stopped the wheel, you stopped time, and you gave ____ a chance to catch her breath. Your generosity in putting responsibilities in your class "second" to other Stout courses at the time, said that you cared about ____ over all health. As a teacher for the past 35 years specializing in children, I appreciate you being in ____ life. I congratulate Stout for hiring such a person. Thank you for all that you do, for every student, and for each day that you are teaching more than English."
Wow!! That makes it all worth it. Regardless of the long hours and the seeming lack of care or response from administration, this is why I believe I was called to be a professor. It is an email like this one that makes me believe that what I do matters and is honorable. The administration tells us they believe what we do matters, but so many times it only seems like hollow words because they seem to add more on with no appreication for what we already do and expect that we can keep doing so much with so little . . . no release time, no prep time, a negligible raise at best, and the list could go on. Please do not misunderstand my intent here. I am glad to work and be here, but to pretend that all is okay and that we have no concerns or morale issues is disrespectful of the hard work that people do. It pretend that what is done is always reasonable and does not go far beyond what is normal under values both the contribution made and it under values or discounts the humanity of the people who put in such effort. I should note there are some administrators who do understand; so this concern or diatribe is not about all.
I wanted to get to California and back to the vineyard before the semester, but it did not happen. Too much work to get ready for the Spring Semester. I would also like to have finished a couple other things, but somehow, I ran out of time. There was another positive in the last week; I received an email from a publisher in Germany and they want to publish my dissertation into a scholarly monograph. I was amazed, but pleased. I wrote back and now I have a couple things to do, but that should be off in the next couple days.
There is much more and I haven’t even really gotten into where I thought I was going in this entry. What I do know is that I am grateful for John Achter, a colleague and fellow member of my church. I need to follow up on some things there. I am sad about how distance, both near and far, has seemed to strain or sever acquaintances or what I hoped were friendships. Sometimes, how it all happens does not make sense to me. However, I almost always take it personally. That is one of my frailties . . . my most profound weaknesses. I know from where it comes and most times I keep it at bay, but lately, I feel, certainly not because I enjoy it, like it all doesn’t really matter. I am grateful that God is more compassionate than we. I base my very hope and faith on that belief.
Well, it is late and I am tired. I need to get a few hours sleep at least.
Thanks for reading,
Michael
