The Ivory Tower

I usually blog on Friday afternoons, during office hours, but I actually had students come to see me. I was so excited!!  With now one paper and one exam behind them, students are starting to get a little more focused on that looming end grade. My sections have a paper due this upcoming Friday, so many are starting to go above and beyond to get the good grade. That evens means visiting me during office hours. 

This week started out so great. I spent two days almost entirely focused on my research paper--the influence of academic historians on the content of grade-school textbooks, 1890-1930. How cool is that?  Dr. H. gave me some good suggestions on secondary sources, and I've found lots of my primary sources in the school library. The pic below is my carrel in the library, my favorite workspace for my research paper. I wish I could work on it all the time. 

The weather here has been fantastic this week. While I hate the idea of what Hurricane Joaquin is doing to the east coast, that weather system and others like it draw the hot air out of eastern Tennessee. This means that we've had a whole week of cool temperatures and on-and-off rain. Perfect for walking up the hill from parking lot to classrooms, for drinking mochas at Golden Roast and Starbucks, and for cuddling under my new Mom-made afghan on Lovie the sofa. And, perfect for the purchase of rain boots--a must-have Knoxville fashion statement. 

Sadly, not everything has gone well this week. My belief in the purity of the academic ivory tower took a blow. There is a conference upcoming in November, a big one. The department put out a call for students to attend, even offering up a van to cart us to and from Little Rock. Two of my classmates, Alicia and Tess, and I agreed to share a room. All we needed was permission to miss our Thursday classes. 

In comes old-fashioned bureaucracy. The department chair thought one thing about who could attend, the professors organizing the conference travel thought another. Stuck in the middle?  Lorraine, Tess, and Alicia. I will have the unpleasant task of talking with Dr. H. about this tomorrow and receiving the confirmation that we will not be attending the conference. Thank goodness we didn't reserve a room yet. 

So, it's time for me to put on my big girl panties and realize that, even in the hallowed halls of academia, individual personalities struggle over power and students are caught in the crossfire. To put a positive spin on it--I'll have more time to work on my beloved research paper. 

Of course, the nonsense over the conference was not the only blow this week. On Wednesday, my beloved Smoke announced his retirement from full-time Cup racing. While I am certainly sad, I can't help but feel happy for him. The weight of the world seems lifted off his shoulders, and he's excited about having time to do all the other kinds of racing he enjoys. And I'll be cheering him along. 

So, that's the week in review. I now have adorable rain boots but there is no rain in the forecast. I was excited about attending a conference, but now I'll have to get excited about something else. I have a dozen Stellas in the fridge, but I added a six-pack of Sam Adams also. It's all good in the eastern Tennessee 'hood.