"end of the quarter" | friday | march 14, 2008 | 10:30 am

T'S THE END OF THE QUARTER. Today is the last day of classes, though my office last day was yesterday. I ended the quarter in usual fashion: a little party, the students bring snacks, I provide some parting words of wisdom, we play a few games, pictures are taken, promises to keep in touch are made, and so on. I get their final paper projects on Monday.

The past month or so has been a mix of things. For the most part, I have been "taking time off" and trying to just relax after my Ph.D. exams. It was actually really hard to go from reading, thinking, working, worrying all of the time to having next-to-nothing to do. I did a lot of hanging out, reading for fun (even if the books were from my lists), working on teaching stuff, and just sort of vaguely thinking about what the heck my disseration is going to be about.

But now that the quarter is done and March is half over, I suddenly have a bunch of things to do. I am teaching ENGL 111 again next quarter (back to composition this spring) and will be running my "Critical Approaches to Harry Potter" class again. But I want to revise my assignment sequences, and I have to prep a new syllabus and course website. I also have a publication deadline for an article for a special online edition of Computers and Composition on video games, reading, and writing. I have to submit my web-ready article by March 28, which is only a couple weeks away. Moreover, I really need to start reading and working on my dissertation prospectus, though I have all spring quarter to get it done (but I want to finish it early).

All of this doable, of course, but I am planning a short trip to San Francisco for spring break. I'll be down in the Bay Area from the 20th to the 25th, which puts my trip smack dab in the middle of prime work time. Basically, I'll need to get as much as I can done before I go away and then finish up stuff when I get back. My biggest worry is about the article -- my first academic publication -- which I want to do a good job on. Not surprisingly, I am having a little writing anxiety, sort of like the anxiety I felt for my written exam. But, it will get done. And it will be more than fine.

More soon.

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