because tomorrow morning is my last class with my first-year seminar. I love this class–their enthusiasm, their willingness to learn, their exuberance, their concern for each other, all of these things have made showing up to class, to films, to conferences with them—fun!

I’ve thrown papers and drafts at them, oral presentations and digital media projects, Regency Dancing, and even electronic journals before classes began, and they constantly exceed my expectations.

When I finished my practice teaching (about 35 years ago!), I lamented to my mentor that I would never again have a class like them. She wisely told me that I would have many wonderful classes, and, of course, I have had wonderful classes since, but I never had that class again, just as I will never have this class again. Tomorrow’s class will be bittersweet. I’ll have to console myself with their final papers!