How I Spent My Summer

Ah, Summer! Still some time left to play before getting back to school in earnest. Mike spent the last six weeks teaching high school students in the University of Utah's Upward Bound Summer Academic Enrichment Program. I taught English composition and supervised the magazine internship. Here you see the finished product of my students' labors. When I saw the pride my students had in their job well done, I felt rewarded for my efforts. Last night we had the closing banquet, and it was like a mini United Nations in the Union Ballroom. Hallie and I sat at a table with a family from Vietnam, at the table next to us sat an extended Polynesian family, at the table in front of us sat a Mexican family, and katty corner from us sat a family from Somalia. Here were all these families from all these backgrounds, all sharing the same ambition for their children: a chance to grab the dream of a college education. Hallie and I chatted with students and their families and enjoyed the different presentations. Whenever I write in this thing, I feel as though I should have something more profound or at least witty to say. "The romance of writing a blog," I suppose. Anyway, summer was spent teaching and otherwise trying to beat the heat. Hallie has been made manager at her Curves franchise, and now she has a new set of snazzy business cards. I have yet to figure out where I want to take my dissertation. Some (most?) people seem to go into their PhD programs knowing what it is they want to study. Alls I know is that I want to learn about how to make schools places where students learn something meaningful. That's what I liked about doing UB this summer. For the most part, my students learned a little bit more about how to write and think about writing. Hopefully they will take some of that awareness back to school in the fall (in two weeks! Yikes!). Teaching is a funny thing in that we all profoundly need people who help us learn skills and dispositions, and yet the act of helping someone acquire skills can seem so pedestrian. Teaching is anything but glamorous, rarely dangerous, and certainly not held in high esteem. You want danger, look at my friend Toby. The guy's training to fight in Iraq. Do I admire him? You bet. Would I trade him places? No chance. Does that make me a coward? Probably. Ramble ramble ramble