August can sometimes seem like the world’s longest Sunday—still summer, but with the school year hovering just around the corner. As much as I savor the relative calm of those last days of summer, the first day of classes always feels to me a bit like the first day of Spring: full of energy, new beginnings, and just a bit of trepidation. No matter how many years I’ve been teaching, I still get (at least a few) butterflies on that first walk into the classroom.
I used to wonder how it was possible for me to still be nervous about the first day of class after all this time. Now I’ve come to see that those butterflies aren’t necessarily a bad thing—and that, based on many conversations, I’m not alone in having them! Those nerves mean that we care and that we know that what we do matters. They stem from our understanding that teaching is full of both possibility and unpredictability. And that is the integral beauty of it.
As you walk into your new classes this week, I’m sending best wishes to you and your students for good energy and just the right amount of butterflies. And because the start of a new semester is always better in good company, I hope you’ll join us for our Welcome Back Breakfast this Thursday, August 28, from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. here in the Faculty Hub. The new academic year brings so much activity to the Faculty Hub! Read on to find out more about this semester, including our upcoming cohorts.