Back to School, College Edition

My friend Kristen recently blogged about kids going back to school, and the joys of sending kids off to Kindergarten.  Today, I experienced another kind of first day of school--the first day of the fall semester at OU.  I teach English Composition, and I have to say there's not much that I enjoy more than the energy that freshmen bring to the classroom.

Those who've been teaching for a while might say that teaching is a kind of performance, and like all live performances, the performer feeds off the energy of the audience (in this case, the students).  One of the things I really love about my job is the chance to connect with my students, even if it's something as simple as finding a little silliness to make them laugh.  Telling them the only joke my mother can remember was one such bit of silliness.  That the joke is slightly off-color only adds to the humor because that is SO NOT my mom.  But it worked because my students laughed...and I laughed with them.  I can try to connect with them by sharing a bit of me, and in return, they bless me with sharing a bit of themselves. 

I gave my students their first homework assignment today (stop judging me!  it was easy!), and already I have 18 e-mails in my inbox.  So yes, I'm impressed--right now they're eager and they're fresh.  I asked what they expected out of the course, how they feel about writing, and if there was anything else they wanted me to know.  This is where some of the reward comes--the girl who's looking forward to this class because she thinks the teacher is funny (which may not last, but it was the impression I was going for today, so I'm glad I succeeded); the shy student who was glad we spent time learning each others' names today--these tell me I'm on the right track.

I've been thinking a lot about joy lately and what brings joy to different people, so maybe the most interesting question I asked was for my students to describe to me something that brings them joy.  The answers varied from family to a brother with Downs' syndrome whose smile brightens his sister's day to the young lady who appreciated the architecure on campus to the student who was joyful he didn't lose his toenail after falling down in front of the bookstore.  From the simple to the profound, my students' joy was contagious--their answers were good reminders.  And I hope to keep those reminders for that time later in the semester when my students are no longer eager but overwhelmed, no longer fresh but exhausted.  And in those moments, I hope to remind them about the joy in life.  Yes, I want them to write well, and I want them to learn new things about writing and arguments, but I don't want them to lose sight of the more important things in life. 

As Kahlil Gibran wrote in The Prophet, "Work is love made visible.  And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy."