IT'S OVER...

Unless you have been a teacher, I don't think you can truly appreciate the feeling of having just graded the last paper in the stack. I am a teacher, and I appreciate the feeling; I'm experiencing it right now!

My final exams were Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. That means I spent all day Wednesday and yesterday grading, and several hours today. (This was with the help of Teaching Assistants too, and I thank them sincerely.) A pile of 200 papers, each 20 pages long, can be quite intimidating, but "I gave, I collected, I graded," and now they're finished.

I'm excited about a short break to refresh my mind for the summer class I teach, which starts in late May. At the same time, I'm feeling a bit melancholy about leaving Clarkson. Despite the challenge it presented, it has, in the past year, become a part of who I am; now, it's over.

We live, we breathe, we move on. Welcome summer.