That Academic Rhythm

The end of the semester is upon us!

I feel like every conversation I have with a colleague lately eventually settles on this topic in some way, shape, or form. The semester is nearly complete. Oh, there is so much to do! Exams are being written. final projects and paper work is being completed. Grading...or correcting...or marking...or feedbacking (your preference on what to call it, I guess) is underway. Commencement is coming.

With the ending of this term, I had steady stream of students stopping by today. One to drop off that paper to document his field experience. One to check in with a question about our final paper that is due so-very-soon. One to drop off a thank-you note and a wish me a lovely summer break. One to ask advice about a tech tool for a presentation she is going to give in lieu of an exam for another course. One to give me a high five and say "thanks" for welcoming him into the world of teaching through Intro to Education.

It's enough to swell the soul a little, to take delight in the work I get to do in working with future teachers. And because of the rhythm of the school year, with the end so clearly before us, it seems right for students to stop in. And it feel right for me to drop what I'm doing, welcome them in, and take that time to visit a bit with each one.

The academic rhythm is something I just love about my work. Clear patterns that roll on and on: beginnings, middles, endings, times to rest. Lather, rinse, repeat? Hardly! I love that we have these sorts of seasons that show up so clearly, year after year. The change of pace of summer is always welcome, but would it feel like a change of pace without the rhythm of the semester?

I've never not been in school, either as a student or as an instructor, since I began kindergarten over 40 years ago now. I know there are plenty of people who don't live their lives based on a school calendar. But it is soothing to me...maybe because it is so familiar?

Soon the students will be packing up their belongings and heading out to their summer adventures. Campus will become quieter. Colleagues will be transitioning into research mode, or summer teaching mode, or rest mode. (Mine will be a combination of all three, actually.) 

But I'm confident it will happen again, because of that rhythm that I love...three or four weeks from now I'll start thinking that campus is too quiet...and I'll start looking ahead to August, when the students will start to return like the swallows of Capistrano, coming to roost for another beginning.

Image of a swallow by Hans Veth via Unsplash