Today I had two classes for EN112 – College Writing and Research. Last summer, it was decided that rather than trying to introduce the students to the library during their freshman seminar, it might instead be better to introduce the them to the library during their research class. The only issue with that is some students test out of it completely, but those students also tested out for a reason.
I had two EN112s this morning – 8:15 and 9:45. My general outline for these types of classes is to go over how to search the book catalog and how to search the databases for journal articles. The basics – but at this point I’ve been searching the databases for three years, so I am able to add in some of the tricks I myself have learned along the way.
But, like all things, work seems to be a countdown these days. This many days left, this many classes left… etc. I only have 4 more classes to go (2 next Monday, 1 next Tuesday, and 1 the last Monday of October). There’s also workshops (which last until the end of November), but classes by and large are how I see most of the students.
Over the months I have expanded on some of the details I tell the students:
1. “I work Monday through Friday, 8AM to 4PM.” So don’t expect an answer Saturday night…
2. “I am a weird person who doesn’t drive, so I need to leave at 4PM sharp to catch the bus.” So don’t come in at 3:58PM (this hasn’t really happened lately).
3. And sometimes, depending on the class… “I am moving to the Netherlands at the end of the semester, so feel free to ask me any questions before that. My last day is the last day of finals.” (Usually at least a few students say “Awesome!” or similar at that.)
…Today I mentioned point #3 at the end of the class after the professor brought it up. As today’s research topic example was the therapeutic uses of marijuana (with a potential look at legalizing medical marijuana in New York), I did slip in a joke that I was not moving to the Netherlands for better access to drugs. (That got some laughs.)
It hasn’t really hit yet. Today someone from my bank called, and I realized for the 53rd time that I really need to figure out how to close my account from overseas, as I will still have direct deposit checks arriving for another month or so. Little things that I must remember… or more accurately, throw into Outlook as a reminder.
To do at some point down the line.
Life in the Hague 