Tomorrow is Opening Day for the schools in this state. Or most of them anyway. Some of the country schools started earlier.
Catholic High School for Boys will be in that number. I will be there bright and early for the Opening Assembly. I’m trying to remember how long I’ve been associated with those folks. I’m guessing @ 7 years by now. That seems kind of hard to believe until I realized that one of my own history boys is on the faculty now. Duncan is going to coach football and teach world history for Freshmen.
That will show him by God.
I tend to wear different hats over there depending on the situation. I’ve taught history and choir. And I get to do a good bit of pedagogy when I sub for folks in the Liberal Arts. I’ve done History, Literature, Politics, and Econ. I have bluffed my way through occasional classes in 1st Semester Freshman Latin. I might could do the same with French if given adequate notice.
Due to COVID I pretty much missed all of last year. I took the shot with the rest of the faculty last March. But by then the school year was pretty much over. About all I did was proctor AP exams. Which is not the most exciting gig in the world. But I did get to finish a book I had started in between casting baleful glances at the examinees.
They didn’t have an Opening Assembly last year. They didn’t have choir or Theology Club either. I’m not sure if we will have the latter two activities this year. But at least things will seem more normal while the Principal lays down the law for the school year to his captive audience tomorrow. Even the dullest of the dull will soon realize that he is now subject to a reasonably benign yet indisputably authoritarian regime for the next 4 years of his life.
That must be an awful feeling.
The local law school is going to crank back up week after next (I think). I guess I will be a mentor over there again. At least nobody from the dean’s office has told me that the honor of my presence is NOT requested. I will be doing mock job interviews with second year students tomorrow afternoon. I’ve done stuff for the law school about as long as I have been doing stuff at Catholic. This will be the first time I have done the ersatz interviews virtually rather than in person.
Quite frankly, I’ve about had it with virtual stuff. At first, I was all for it. Getting stuff done without having to actually deal with other people? Where do I sign up? But you lose something online. Things seem more forced. Less spontaneous. You can’t read a room if there’s no room. And whenever you do a group there’s always somebody that has their mic or camera off. Or is doing something weird. But I believe we are stuck with it. At least in the lawyering line of work.
I enjoy-mostly enjoy-all of the various students I am privileged to be with. When I left the government I was given the same advice-word for word-from 2 guys that do not know each other from Adam. One is the Maximum Dictator at Catholic High who I mentioned earlier. And the other is a prosecutor with the US Attorney’s office. The both told me to stay involved with kids because “You’re good at it and it will keep you young.” And so I did. And they were right. At least the part about it keeping me young. I don’t know how good I am at it. But it keeps me young.
While I enjoy being with the law students they remind me to count my blessings. I mainly consider myself to be blessed to not be a law student in the time of COVID and dismal job prospects. Law school is sufficiently stressful in and of itself without the added stress of looking at a big honking student loan bill. Or counting on sufficient cash flow from doing cut rate divorces to pay it back. On the other hand as far as I can tell-at least from the legal aid side of things- divorce work is up. I have a theory.
A lot of married couples were forced to be with each other 24/7 during the shutdown. Some of them came to realize that they can’t stand each other. Or as a young woman explained it once to me, “For richer. For poorer. But never for lunch.” “General indignities” were never so elegantly described.
Anyway, tomorrow I will be back with students of all various kinds of stripes. I will show up on time. I will do no harm. It will seem normal again. I could do with some normal after the past year that was pretty much the worst of my life.
I hope that your day is normal too. Please wear a mask wherever you go. And get the damn vaccine if you have yet to do so.
Things aren’t that normal yet.
And remember. For richer. For poorer.
But never for lunch.
