The official Fall 2007 Back to School Thread

[last unicorn]

I just got my first full-time teaching job, in the writing department of a college in upstate NY. I'm teaching three classes there and tutoring four hours a week. Our classes start later this week.

I'm also teaching an advanced creative writing class at the university I graduated from this spring. The first day of that class is Monday. I'm excited to be taking my students to hear John Irving read at our university, and to hear Salman Rushdie read at another university a month later. Field trips

This is going to be my busiest semester of teaching yet, but it's also going to be my first time making real money and having a full faculty benefits package.

Feel free to send paper writing questions my way

Wow, that's great, I'm also teaching literature and creative writing classes, however, here it is something that you can not do on university (we wish!), but on several other institutions. I am a trained literature and poetry teacher and my classes start the first week of October. Our semesters are almost the same as university semesters, only the mid term holidays are shorter; at university they last a whole month (February), for us they only last a week (like regular school holidays, usually the first or second week of February). My regular classes are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 6 to 9 p. m. Apart from that, I have singular workshops on several weekends throughout the semester, and in Novemer I'll be going to Venice with a class (we make several trips to inspiring places throughout the year). I also sometimes collaborate with a friend of mine who is a painter and has a diploma in art therapy (something I intend to do as well within the near future); we do painting and writing classes together, which is always very interesting.

However, it's almost impossible to do that as a full-time main job, because it's tough to have enough classes to earn enough money, so I'm doing it as my second job. I rarely have classes in summer (I had one at the beginning of August, but that was all), because I usually need the summer to take courses myself, to read new books, do a bit of writing and be creative again, come up with new concepts. I still have my daytime-job and it's much less stress in summer, because I don't have the second job, but I love teaching, I love communicating, so I'm really starting to look forward to the new semester now. I usually have September to prepare the new classes.

Please tell me about your experiences at the Irving and Rushdie lectures. We had Salman Rushdie here in Austria last year as part of a literature symposion that I was also involved in, it was very interesting.

I would like to hear about your experiences with your classes and wish you good luck!!!

 

[U2democrat]

Sounds like the first student protest should be started

An army of one

 

[Vincent Vega]

Haha, I need $25K/year...there is little chance to make that much in my semester off.

Wow, and here students go on the street protesting against €500 per semester.

On the other hand, our universities often are not that well-equipped and under-funded which also explains why our best university is ranked 54th internationally.

 

[last unicorn]

Wow, and here students go on the street protesting against €500 per semester.

On the other hand, our universities often are not that well-equipped and under-funded which also explains why our best university is ranked 54th internationally.

Same here. We'd never had university fees until the year 2000, when a new government decided to let students pay 370 euros per semester, which has led to a lot of protests. People are still protesting, mainly because the money doesn't go into improving infrastructure which is still catastrophic in most of our universities.

I'm glad I finished before the new fee was launched.

 

[BonosLil'Pal94]

Starting 8th grade on Wednesday (I feel so young! ) My schedule is great. I have all honors classes and ASB (Associated Student Body). This year'll be a lot of work, but I'm ready for it





















plus we get the big lockers this year

 

[Total U2 Nut]

I have enrolement for A2 courses on the 3rd and then classes start on the 10th. I'm actually quite looking forward to going back, I've been off for so long (since the beginning of June) and it'll be nice to see people It'll wear off in all of 2 days as soon as I remember how much I hate waking up early and getting the train in At least I'm able to drop french

 

[Varitek]

Lies, I am really fearing the helicopter parents. i'm one of 10 members of our Orientation Committee and the freshmen arrive tuesday with their hovering parents. And I've got duty directing move in for the dorm with nearly half the freshman class in it (though I volunteered... because I am severely attracted to one of the RAs there....)

I've been here for a week today (early for orientation...campus is a ghost town). Senior year. That is both exciting, as I am ready to be in the "real world" in many ways and excited for my tentative post-grad travel plans... but it's also terrifying becuase it's only one more year of college and the bills-free life that goes with it. I'm still meeting people, improving my writing in class, etc and here I am with no one older, getitng ready to write a 2 credit thesis and job hunt and stuff. WEIRD!!!!

Plus I'm an f-ing senior with 9:30 classes every flippin' day - I am so damn angry at the econ department, who schedules an upper level class that early???? They better not do the same in the spring because I cannot focus that early in the morning.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

I had a class my senior year at 7:45. I hated it, but I sucked it up and dealt with it. I'm not much of a morning person, but it made me realize I won't be able to set my schedule my whole life.

 

[Vincent Vega]

We don't have campus dorms for every students here in Germany, so many are living in flats or do flat-sharing.
Sometimes one moves out so they are looking for others to rent the room, or some are starting a new community and have some rooms over.
So, before someone gets in that person normally comes for an introduction and interview to see whether the person fits, and I've heard from several people that 18 years and older guys and girls came with there parents for the interview.
In one case the mother came with her son and spoke about what kind of person he was and such, and he didn't say a word.
Later they are probably surprised they didn't get the room. :roll:

I hate when I have to take classes that start at 8 in the morning.

And I hate exams on Saturdays.

 

[anitram]

Hey, last year I had a roommate I'd never met (we were matched by the university). She was a 25 year old grad student, getting her MA. I moved in a couple of days before her and so she came into the apartment with her mother. Who introduced us, and spoke for her daughter, informing me that she was a very nice person, that she had a car and wouldn't mind taking me grocery shopping, that she's quiet and clean and then very politely questioned me about my background.

I was torn on whether this was cute or just over the top. But she was a wonderful roommate in the end!

 

[U2Fanatic4ever]

Starting 8th grade on Wednesday (I feel so young! ) My schedule is great. I have all honors classes and ASB (Associated Student Body). This year'll be a lot of work, but I'm ready for it





















plus we get the big lockers this year

that's way cool maddy! good luck!!



My son, Liam starts 4th grade tomorrow... I feel old................

 

[Lila64]

Just wait a few more years :bittersweet:

 

[Liesje]

Hey, last year I had a roommate I'd never met (we were matched by the university). She was a 25 year old grad student, getting her MA. I moved in a couple of days before her and so she came into the apartment with her mother. Who introduced us, and spoke for her daughter, informing me that she was a very nice person, that she had a car and wouldn't mind taking me grocery shopping, that she's quiet and clean and then very politely questioned me about my background.

I was torn on whether this was cute or just over the top. But she was a wonderful roommate in the end!

I'd be a little creeped out, but think she was a nice person. I guess I'd rather have someone question my background than not ever care.

What gets under my skin is when the parents come down to my office, ask about whether or not we have some jobs for students available, and when we say yes, they actually want to do the interview FOR their child or be in the room WITH their child!!!! HELLO!!! Your kid is 17/18 and you still WANT him to defer to you?!? And any 18 year old who's never done a job interview alone sure has some catching up to do!

Or, we have this thing called First Aid where we have the incoming freshmen bring us their computers if they want help getting setup for ResNet and wireless (we do not use open networks) and most times the parents bring in the kids' computers and get all huffy when we say we can't help them b/c their child is going to have to login and no, we can't just change someone else's password without them asking just b/c the parent wants to do it for the kid.

 

[phillyfan26]

I'm Vice President of my junior class this year.

 

[Angela Harlem]

My new timetable started this morning and I did with it, too, because I am a control freak and need to start off organised. It overlaps for a week with my old one which I have exams for. But I do an accelerated programme and don't really take breaks unless I want a 13 week block of holidays.

 

[JanuaryStar]

Starting college again September 10... It's gonna be my second year as a university student

Anyway, good luck to all of you who have already started or are going to start school again soon It can be pretty tough sometimes, and like a lot of you mentioned already, the tuitions are no fun As well as the prices you pay for books sometimes!

 

[Vincent Vega]

Hey, last year I had a roommate I'd never met (we were matched by the university). She was a 25 year old grad student, getting her MA. I moved in a couple of days before her and so she came into the apartment with her mother. Who introduced us, and spoke for her daughter, informing me that she was a very nice person, that she had a car and wouldn't mind taking me grocery shopping, that she's quiet and clean and then very politely questioned me about my background.

I was torn on whether this was cute or just over the top. But she was a wonderful roommate in the end!

It slightly reminds me of MASH, when Margaret Houlihan speaks for Frank Burns.

I'm sure those people are nice, but when you are looking for a person to share your flat and the mother is doing the talking all the time... no chance.

 

[U2democrat]

First day of classes!

Funny, the only thing i'm nervous about is getting to them on time because they're back to back on the complete opposite ends of campus...

 

[JessicaAnn]

As they do every year, Beloit College in my homestate of Wisconsin is out with its Mindset List.

And this list, of course, is designed to make people who are past the age of being in colleg feel old.

The Mindset List is not a chronological listing of things that happened in the year that the entering first-year students were born.

Our effort is to identify a worldview of 18 year-olds in the fall of 2007. We take a risk in some cases of making generalizations, particularly given that our students at Beloit College for instance come from every state and scores of nations.

The "Class of 2011" refers to students entering college this year. They are generally 18 which suggests they were born in 1989.

The list identifies the experiences and event horizons of students as they commence higher education and is not meant to reflect on their preparatory education.

BELOIT COLLEGE'S MINDSET LIST® FOR THE CLASS OF 2011
Most of the students entering College this fall, members of the Class of 2011, were born in 1989.

For them, Alvin Ailey, Andrei Sakharov, Huey Newton, Emperor Hirohito, Ted Bundy, Abbie Hoffman, and Don the Beachcomber have always been dead.

What Berlin wall?

Humvees, minus the artillery, have always been available to the public.

Rush Limbaugh and the “Dittoheads” have always been lambasting liberals.

They never “rolled down” a car window.

Michael Moore has always been angry and funny.

They may confuse the Keating Five with a rock group.

They have grown up with bottled water.

General Motors has always been working on an electric car.

Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa.

Pete Rose has never played baseball.

Rap music has always been mainstream.

Religious leaders have always been telling politicians what to do, or else!

“Off the hook” has never had anything to do with a telephone.

Music has always been “unplugged.”

Russia has always had a multi-party political system.

Women have always been police chiefs in major cities.

They were born the year Harvard Law Review Editor Barack

Obama announced he might run for office some day.

The NBA season has always gone on and on and on and on.

Classmates could include Michelle Wie, Jordin Sparks, and Bart Simpson.

Half of them may have been members of the Baby-sitters Club.

Eastern Airlines has never “earned their wings” in their lifetime.

No one has ever been able to sit down comfortably to a meal of “liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.”

Wal-Mart has always been a larger retailer than Sears and has always employed more workers than GM.

Being “lame” has to do with being dumb or inarticulate, not disabled.

Wolf Blitzer has always been serving up the news on CNN.

Katie Couric has always had screen cred.

Al Gore has always been running for president or thinking about it.

They never found a prize in a Coca-Cola “MagiCan.”

They were too young to understand Judas Priest’s subliminal messages.

When all else fails, the Prozac defense has always been a possibility.

Multigrain chips have always provided healthful junk food.

They grew up in Wayne’s World.

U2 has always been more than a spy plane.

They were introduced to Jack Nicholson as “The Joker.”

Stadiums, rock tours and sporting events have always had corporate names.

American rock groups have always appeared in Moscow.

Commercial product placements have been the norm in films and on TV.

On Parents’ Day on campus, their folks could be mixing it up with Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz with daughter Zöe, or Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford with son Cody.

Fox has always been a major network.

They drove their parents crazy with the Beavis and Butt-Head laugh.

The “Blue Man Group” has always been everywhere.

Women’s studies majors have always been offered on campus.

Being a latchkey kid has never been a big deal.

Thanks to MySpace and Facebook, autobiography can happen in real time.

They learned about JFK from Oliver Stone and Malcolm X from Spike Lee.

Most phone calls have never been private.

High definition television has always been available.

Microbreweries have always been ubiquitous.

Virtual reality has always been available when the real thing failed.

Smoking has never been allowed in public spaces in France.

China has always been more interested in making money than in reeducation.

Time has always worked with Warner.

Tiananmen Square is a 2008 Olympics venue, not the scene of a massacre.

The purchase of ivory has always been banned.

MTV has never featured music videos.

The space program has never really caught their attention except in disasters.

Jerry Springer has always been lowering the level of discourse on TV.

They get much more information from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert than from the newspaper.

They’re always texting 1 n other.

They will encounter roughly equal numbers of female and male professors in the classroom.

They never saw Johnny Carson live on television.

They have no idea who Rusty Jones was or why he said “goodbye to rusty cars.”

Avatars have nothing to do with Hindu deities.

Chavez has nothing to do with iceberg lettuce and everything to do with oil.

Illinois has been trying to ban smoking since the year they were born.

The World Wide Web has been an online tool since they were born.

Chronic fatigue syndrome has always been debilitating and controversial.

Burma has always been Myanmar.

Dilbert has always been ridiculing cubicle culture.

Food packaging has always included nutritional labeling.

 

[Babydoll]

I start this Thursday

Just moved down into a new basement apartment yesterday.

 

[MissMaCo]

I want motivated students like u2dem for the schoolyear to come

 

[EdgeIsTooSexy]

I start tomorrow.
Senior Year.

 

[onebloodonelife]

I'm an incoming freshman, move-in day is Saturday, and classes start on Monday

 

[Liesje]

I'm an incoming freshman, move-in day is Saturday, and classes start on Monday

Your classes start on a national holiday? That blows!!!

 

[Bonos_Lemon]

My dorm is amazing

 

[Tiger Edge]

Started today.

Traffic can die, by the way.
Late to class.

Also, the freshman who consistently eat up all the precious parking spaces during the first week of school can die too.

And if I see another kid wearing a "Class of 2011" shirt, I'm going to scream.

 

[onebloodonelife]

Your classes start on a national holiday? That blows!!!

Oops, I mean Tuesday...can't keep my days straight I have a concert to go to on Monday, maybe that's what I'm thinking of...

 

[arw]

Oops, I mean Tuesday...can't keep my days straight I have a concert to go to on Monday, maybe that's what I'm thinking of...

What concert? If it's at the state fair then I'll be there too....if not then nevermind Well, I don't even know if you're going to school in MN anyways since you mentioned moving into the dorms.

 

[onebloodonelife]

What concert? If it's at the state fair then I'll be there too....if not then nevermind Well, I don't even know if you're going to school in MN anyways since you mentioned moving into the dorms.

Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals at the Orpheum Theatre And, yes, I'm going to the U I seriously need to start packing though...

Oh, and then I'm seeing The Flaming Lips on Sept. 9th at the Myth as well.

 

[arw]

Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals at the Orpheum Theatre And, yes, I'm going to the U I seriously need to start packing though...

Oh, and then I'm seeing The Flaming Lips on Sept. 9th at the Myth as well.

different concert.....

Good luck at the U!