Today we held an all-day seminar for our students on Beauty & Catechesis. I wrote last week that I would have the opportunity to hear Dr. Denis McNamara present on this topic. I had been told that he is a fantastic speaker, and he did not disappoint. We spent three hours defining beauty, then analyzing art and architecture to determine if it truly is beautiful. Up to now I've only been able to identify what I like and don't like, and I've coveted the Dominicans' ability to explain why. Now I think I have a better grasp of the principles behind it...and I wish I'd had this information years ago, because it would have come in very handy! Anyway, his presentation entertained as well as informed...no dry lecture there!
The afternoon session, led by one of my colleagues, focused on how to use art to teach the Faith. Before my colleague began her presentation, she said "I just want to say I'm so happy to have [my name] on staff now." The auditorium erupted with loud applause and cheers, which both embarrassed and pleased me. Just a few minutes earlier, a student (not mine) told me that my students really love my class, and the applause sort of confirmed that. I can't say how encouraging that is for me. I love my students and the material I teach, but the job demands a lot of time and effort on my part and I don't always think I've done a very good job. It's just the "first year feeling," and I know I will improve, but their response encourages me to continue to strive to do better. And on a weekend like this, when I lose planning time and so will need to give up a good part of my "day of rest" to play catch up, it's really motivating to have their applause cheering me on.
During the morning break I circulated among my students and got a chance to talk to some of them outside the class context. Several of them wondered if I am happy I came, which I am. One of them asked if it was hard for me to leave home, and I said yes. I told her that I really miss my family & friends, but that I'm having a lot of fun meeting the challenge of planning new courses. She is taking my Teaching High School class, so she wanted to know how I got the ideas for that class. Honestly, I got the ideas as I drove home from a friend's house one night, before I even accepted the job! I wanted to teach them all the things I wished I'd known before I started teaching...and all the things I learned by success and by failure. She expressed a great eagerness to begin teaching, and it excites me to help prepare her...she's got that natural gift and I know she's going to make a great teacher. And there are others like her!
The next two or three weeks will be really intense for me, as several assignments and tests will need grading, and I will run out of lesson plans in the meantime. After mid-October, things will settle down (sort of) until around Thanksgiving, when we'll shift into end-of-semester mode. I thank you all for your prayers, because I know I am not doing this on my own power, but on His. Nevertheless, in spite of the intensity of the challenges, I am having a lot of fun!
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