My Life as Professor

I write quite a bit about My Life as Professor, one I never expected to have and one that pulls me ever-further from My Life as Writer.

We make choices in our life, though. We make decisions about where we want to spend out time. Who we want to spend our time with. How we want to count down our days on the planet. Those decisions define us. Shape us. Mold us, unconsciously, into the people we will become in the short time we are here.

I am not sure that my words will outlive me. I suspect they won’t. My genes will, if I even have kids, last through just a few generations. Almost nothing of what I am today will be anything within 100 years.

But what we do today can change the tomorrow for the people around us. My Life as Writer days dwindle before me, but they are replaced by – I have chosen to replace them with –  My Life as Professor.

Which makes a day like today, when five of my former students drove 2 1/2 hours to hang out, mean more than they will ever know.

1.

The Media Informatics kids (MINjas) including our most distinguished graduate. I made a college-style breakfast — blueberry pancakes, eggs, sausage and biscuits — to start our day. Ashley always has time to get her pose on.

2.

Next we took a tour of the campus, including a walk through the Art + Journalism, Letterman and Ball buildings before heading over to the Architecture department to give the MINjas a look at our state-of-the-art 3d graphics labs.

3.

Then we headed over to the Student Center to grab some coffee.

4.

That included some hang-out time in the lounge area of the Student Union. I forgot to give them the entire SU tour, though because we were heading to bowl.

5.

We walked in to the bowling alley only to find a high school tournament going on; however, there were still a few lanes for the old folks.

We got our bowl on for an hour or so. I believe only Dan and I were injured in this process.

6.

We grabbed a quick bite before coming home. By this time, the kids had quite a bit of energy and Crazy Uncle Brad was about to pass out. The kids did not seem to mind that I was tired. I am happy about this.

7.

They are home now. Safe again in Covington or Cincinnati or Highland Heights or wherever they have scattered off to in the night.

They are just a few – an important few – of the students I’ve had the honor of teaching and getting to know these last few years. They are My Life as Professor.