Ode to Joy

Yesterday was my first day of class here and I'm completely in love with this place. Granted, that will probably change as soon as the first round of exams and papers arrives but, for now, I'm completely infatuated. Not only is it a gorgeous campus full of trees, thousands of squirrels and flowers but, it is full of brilliant people. The morning of the first day of class was so silent it was eerie. There were hundreds of people on campus but you could hear nothing but the birds in the trees. I was shocked. At WVU on the first day, you can barely hear yourself think for all the cars, talking, laughter, music, etc. There is a sort of excitement in that, though. Here, you would think that every student is in med school or law school they are so incredibly serious.

My first class was an Iberian Empire history course. It's mainly an undergrad course but, it counts for me also (I just get a longer syllabus). What I'm used to on the first day is: hello my name is, you are, here's the syllabus, this is the book, goodbye. Oh no, we went the full time and then some discussing some erudite point of historical value relating to the status of English-speaking islands as part of Latin America. I think I was literally drooling on my desk. YES!! THIS is what I've always wanted-- to be surrounded by my people--- the nerds. In that moment I realized, I am no longer in the minority; never again will I be the ONLY person in the library on a Saturday afternoon. I was so happy, I could've cried.

Then, my second class was a cherry-on-top. Intermediate Portuguese-- I have longed to take this class for 2 years now but it never before existed in my world. Finally! The teacher is from Minas Gerais, Brazil and she's beautiful. She looks like a very classy mom-type figure (she's probably in her 40's). I was so nervous I started making really stupid grammatical mistakes that I knew were wrong but couldn't help it. I was just too excited to control myself. I could just tell that this class would challenge me and I was going to look forward to it every day.

Later, I met with my advisor which, for any grad student, is THE most important person in your world-- they make you or break you. Even parents shy in comparison to the influence of the graduate advisor. Dr. E is wonderful. He's very much a dad (literally and figuratively) so, being his advisee feels a lot like what an adopted child must feel. You feel like you don't really deserve their attention but you still enjoy it tremendously. He's so smart--- SO smart. Sometimes, when he looks at me, I think that he's envisioning me playing with Barbies and sucking my thumb because I'm so green. He's already semi-planned a trip to Brazil for me this summer, which I'm happy to go along with.

The job is going well too. It's so different that what I'm used to and what I'm studying. It's nice to be back into journalism, in a way. It's an exciting field, though with lots of pressure related to time. It's the perfect job for anyone who likes gossip or "dirt"....whenever anything at all happens on campus, we are inevitably the first people to hear about it. The best part is, we are then "obligated" to record and report it. Also, the people who work there--- geez! These are Emmy Award-winning journalists and producers; it's crazy. I feel powerful to make calls and label myself "from the VU News Room". I'm not sure how long I'll be able to balance this job with my other responsibilities but, for now, I'm having a ball!

(In case anyone is wondering, that is a "Happy Scone" picture; don't get any ideas...)