school

I read a very interesting piece in the New York Times today (“Americans are Losing Faith in the Value of College”), and it provided a fair bit of food for thought. Basically, it outlines how in the last decade, the importance people place on getting a college degree in America has plummeted. Some of this is because of ideologies (Republicans view college as far too liberal), but a whole lot of it is due to the fact that college is just so expensive in this country. Even at a small in-state university like mine, tuition runs around $10,000/year. That’s $40,000

Later today, I’ve been asked to give a very brief speech to the new freshmen coming to campus, as Staff Senate President. Never let a good speech go to waste, I say. Especially when I need something to blog about. So here you go: a sneak peek before I even give it. Hello! On behalf of the staff members here at UMF, I’m happy to welcome you to campus. As you’ve been getting ready to come to Farmington, you might have had a number of thoughts going through your mind. What will your classes be like? Will you get along

And they’re off! MC and Daniela started school today, heading into fourth grade and ninth grade, respectively. (Denisa also started her latest semester, though I have no idea how many this makes for her.) It feels like I’ve written so many of these over the years, that writing new blog posts about the first day of school no longer really have much for me to say. Writing that, part of me feels bad for MC. By the time she’s going through all her “firsts,” they’re “thirds” for Denisa and me. That does tend to take away some of the shine

I know I’ve been complaining about how busy I’ve been this semester, so you would think I would have been reluctant to add anything else to my already bursting schedule. After all, I’ve been working on doing less things, not more. And yet, I still added an honest-to-goodness college class that I’m taking as a student, the first one I’ve done in years. Why in the world would I have done that? Well, a few reasons. First of all, Denisa’s taking the class with me. We’ve been wanting to find something to do for dates other than “go to movie”