Parting

Giving final examinations should be a pretty familiar exercise, especially when considering my department's schedules. I am able to work with many new students during an average year as many of our courses run for a mere seven weeks.

 
My classes, however, are quite intensive. For example, I have seen these students for twelve hours a week since the last day of February. So, it always seems a bit disconcerting when a group writes final examinations. Quite suddenly, we become cognizant that our shared experiences will abruptly end. That is what occurred this morning. The eighteen folks, who have been such a large part of my life, are now gone. All I have remaining is a stack of papers to go over and numbers to plug into an online grade-sheet.

Still, I am profoundly thankful and well aware that there's no occupation I'd rather do more.