Day 346-- back to school
Friday, August 17, 2007
One of the weirdest aspects about working at my alma mater is the disconnect that happens when the students come back. This is the first time I've encountered this--it may change in time, I guess--but for now, it's like I'm stuck in a 1950s hard sci-fi time warp.
This is most clear when I eat in the school's cafeteria. I swipe my card (it reads 'faculty/staff' instead of 'student,' though), get in line, decide on what to eat. Students--kids a few years younger than me, at most--say hi, as do professors. But it's when the faculty that I've called by their title for years call me Jason and expect to hear their first name in return...that's when it hits. And then I realize I'm wearing a collared shirt and a tie and pressed pants.
I recognized fewer students than ever before, but that's OK. I don't expect to know many students well 10 years from now, but the distance between college freshmen and me isn't THAT far as of now. Maybe the weirdness will fade as time passes, but I still remember sitting at certain tables a few years back with friends, laughing and talking.
Here's to laughing and talking as a staff member.
posted, with grace and poise, by Jason @ 8/17/2007 11:58:00 PM,
