i've heard that college towns are lonely over the summer, but last summer was fantastic. i certainly missed my school friends, but the empty coffeehouses and light afternoon traffic made searcy feel more like a small rural town.

katie, austin, and i practically lived in a coffee shop called the underground. during the summer, the place is obviously full of townies. i think this gave us a greater taste of searcy culture, and--i must say--i don't hate it.

there are two fifteen-year-old boys who hang around the underground. damien and mando (short for armando) are sophomores at a high school down the street from our house. because the school buses are so crowded, they opt to ride their bikes and/or walk to school. the construction at searcy high school makes it difficult to find a good place to lock a bike, so katie and i let them lock up to the rail of our back porch.

now that school has started, they come around nearly every day. at about the time i get home from work, we hear mando's musical knock, and they stick around for a while to enjoy our cable, air conditioning, and cats. i don't suppose that having two teenagers stop by on a daily basis is something that most people would enjoy, but katie and i love it. they are definitely "small town" guys, and i appreciate their personalities and points of view. they, of course, maintain appropriate fifteen-year-old coolness most of the time, but when they come to hang out with us, their unique personalities are apparent. they're both smart and funny guys with a lot of potential in life. this is a good thing to be able to witness.

it's just one more thing that makes me feel like i have a home in searcy. i know that i'll move away someday, and i find joy in the knowledge that i'll have so much to miss when i have to leave.

julian visited campus at the very beginning of the semester. i scarcely spoke any french to him--he was in the anglais groove. his visit got me thinking about foreign languages. i absolutely do not want to forget french. when a person learns a second language, the pool from which they draw their words doubles. they have successfully doubled their chances of finding the perfect word, the perfect expression. imagine tripling that!

classes continue. grades are difficult to give and receive. one on hand, my classes are for beginners. on the other hand, i am not doing anybody any favors by inflating grades. the writing skills that they are supposed to learn in ENG 111 are meant to assist them in their college careers.

the line is difficult to find.

at this point, i'm not sure why the department head seemed hesitant to give me a third class. he said that he was worried that i might feel overwhelmed by the amount of grading that three classes requires--especially three writing classes. i realize that this is only the beginning of the semester, but i feel like i have liberal amounts of free time. i get excited when my classes turn something in.

pretty much the only thing that i don't love about my job is how my students sometimes call me "ma'am" or "ms. karyn"...

no, i love that, too.

teaching is incredible.

the classes have to get through the semi-boring introductory material before we can move on to the meat of writing, but i can't believe that i'm getting paid to talk about writing. i don't know yet whether or not this is my calling (i just finished my second day), but i absolutely do NOT mind waking up to teach an 8 a.m. class... that's some sort of sign, isn't it? i actually wake up at 6:30 on days that i have to teach. i go in an hour early on purpose.

here are things i've learned so far:

1) start strict.

2) you can't be afraid to exercise your authority.

3) make all of your photocopies the night before.

4) not all of my students have to like me, and i don't have to like all of my students.

5) being a teacher is more work than being a student. seriously.

i feel very qualified, which helps a lot. tons of undergraduate friends of mine have given me encouragement and confidence. i knew that i would eventually have a job that i loved, but i didn't think it would happen this early in my life.

august 11, 2007.

11:34 p.m. central daylight time.

the underground coffeehouse.

karyn finishes her lesson plans.

wow, that feels good.

i was having a conversation about the nature of life earlier (this is not a habit of mine), and i thought about god. belief in god is something that i have taken for granted my entire life. and, really, it is granted. even in times of doubt, i have a place of great spiritual stability: my parents. when my faith grows weak, or when i go a month without even trying to have a conversation with god, i always think of my parents. when believing in a creator seems beyond my capabilities, i have my parents. this is not to say that my parents' faith is a substitute for my own. i am only saying that i have two eternal examples of intelligent and experienced human beings who have chosen to give their lives over to faith in the existence of god--the existence of a loving god. when i struggle to understand how faith is possible, my parents' attitudes communicate to me that there are things about god that i do not yet know and experiences with god that i have not yet had.

just something i'm thinking about. i can't wait until harding people make their way back into this lovely town. i have changed since may.

marlow had a fun surprise for me this week:



but i love him anyway, and so i crushed up his pill into some yogurt for him.

karyn's adventures in adulthood are undergoing further development... i now have a filing system for my bills and important statements. just yesterday i took my car in for an oil change and tire check--when i was finished, i filed the receipt in the folder labeled "auto info." it was genuinely joyful for me.

the preparation for my classes is also developing successfully. i have seven weeks all lined up, and the other seven should fall into place nicely after my adjunct orientation next week. i am unbelievably excited about the opportunity to be in a classroom as a teacher. my office is a pretty standard size, which is enormous by my standards. now that i have my room all decorated, i have very little left over to put in my office. i think this means that i'll be taking down a little bit in my room to move to the office. i already have a filing cabinet, two desks, three chairs, three bookshelves, and a rather large bust of washington irving. i didn't even make up that last part... i seriously have a bust of washington irving in my office. i'll be putting a hat on him.

next stop is a parking permit that allows me to park in teacher-only spaces. what more could a human being need in life than to park in the red spaces?