Journeys

End-of-term Academic Standards Committee meetings where students are dismissed, put on probation, etc. are difficult. When I recognize students' names, it's difficult not to mourn the lost opportunities for learning, success, accomplishment... Today I recognized two students from my FYS who had been best friends all through grade school and then roomed together at college. Fun, likable kids who showed up increasingly sleep-deprived in class and then frequently not at all. It was difficult not to take it personally--I thought you liked my class! It's little consolation that their transcripts appear to show that they did even less in other classes. I wish we'd been able to reach them in time. Perhaps they will be back someday or find another path through college.

At least I had some good company on the way there and back. I'd originally taken this pic because my sister had demanded a picture of me smiling, but this picture is here for a completely unrelated reason. We were listening to Kendrick Lamar when I took this pic, and I feel like At LOOKS LIKE HIM in that moment through some weird aural alchemy.

_