Did I tell you we’re building a house? So what would make a reserved, conservative couple—one who buys new cars only when the old ones are exhausted and who live in the same house they bought 35 years ago and paid off the mortgage on 10 years ago—what would make such a couple (closing in […]
When I climb Wheeler Peak (as I have every summer in recent years), I experience two emotional highs. The first comes when I see the mountains; I guess it’s the memories of adventures-past and the thrill of once again pitting myself against the peak. The second follows, after the summit, when I’m overcome with a […]
I will see ghosts tomorrow night. Commencement is my favorite event of the school year. I love the pageantry—the college band playing Pomp and Circumstance, the choir, the regalia (royal blue stripes on my gown’s sleeves and a flaming red hood courtesy of Texas Tech). My favorite part is the processional, where faculty line the […]
A reporter asked me what advice I wanted to leave my students, and I thought about a speech I gave to the 2010 graduates of Canyon High School. Based on the biblical story of Joseph, I titled it “What Graduation Speakers Don’t Tell You.” You can read the whole thing here, or I’ll give you […]
I wrote on the subject before. It was nearly 30 years ago, shortly after our eldest child left home. I said that while letting go was not easy, it was necessary. Children won’t stay young forever and treating them as such helps neither them nor us. And I said that letting go leads to gain […]
She (a student last week) asked if I was starting to feel sad. “Not really,” I said, then wondered if I sounded too calloused. But I’m not calloused, just experienced. I’ve been saying goodbye to students for over 20 years. Besides, I plan to see many of them again. There are no rules against hanging […]
It was this time of year, 17 years ago. I sat in a small room on the second floor of the CUB at a table filled with members of Amarillo College’s English Department. Most of them have long since left or retired: Hodges, Huber, McGinnis, Knight, Zimmermann, Ford and Woodyard (only Dodson and Netherton remain). […]
When I asked the waiter for my ticket, he pointed to an empty table and said they had paid my tab. That’s a first. A student bought me dinner. Anonymously. Wasn’t sure how to respond. Should I send her a thank you note? Write a comment at the bottom of her essay—next to the grade? […]
It’s what has made me anxious and panicked the last couple of weeks and what has prevented many routine pleasures, including writing this blog. But no more. Today, I realized that simply because time soon will run out for me at AC, and because my in-basket is overflowing with things that still need doing—I will, […]
Teaching teachers—it’s what I thought about doing 20 years ago while finishing Ph.D. studies. If I teach 100 students to write, I reasoned, I will influence 100, but, if I teach 100 graduate students who will one day teach writing—you do the math—teachers of teachers influence thousands. But I ended up sticking with first-semester students […]