So I’m on campus today, finishing up all my end of semester work and enjoying the campus quiet. It’s been, to say the least, an odd semester. And it’s an odd feeling, too, going into winter break, not knowing when (and if) we’ll be paid or what sort of situation we’ll be coming back to.

Frankly, I’ve been in a bit of a funk. When I woke up this morning, I lay in bed staring at the clock long after I should have been up and on my way in to school. “I’m depressed,” I realized, in an oddly narrative moment of clarity. “This whole thing is really depressing.”

Anyway, so I got up and came to school, and spent a rewarding morning typing up a letter of reccomendation for one of my favorite students. Then, when she stopped by to pick it up, she gave me a present:

And if I didn’t know it already, it’s great to be reminded: teaching is the best job, ever. Um, I mean, best job ever, teaching is.