the end of your life?
By diana on Dec 6, 2013 | In capricious bloviations
I was just sharing this with Mich:
I was talking with a colleague (who I knew from the last time I was teaching as USAFA) how much I had left to tell my students, how much I had left to teach, and how little time we had left. I mean...I cannot believe that I have only three teaching days left in this semester.
When I taught here before, I counted the days from about mid-semester to the end. I couldn't believe the semester took so long. And now? Where did it go?! I have so much more! I'm not finished! I've just begun with these cadets!
Mich's response: Do you think that's how it is at the end of your life?
Damn good question.
d
6 comments
Wow! I didn’t know that the Academy fall semester ended so soon! Our semesters usually went until around the fifteenth or so. Can we count on a visit this year???? hope, hope, hope!!!!
The Academy begins in the first week of August. And their semesters DO go through mid-December. It’s just that the core courses don’t have a final. Just a paper.
I think we have the longest semesters on record, actually. Not that I’ve ever tested that. :)
d
Diana,
I’ve yet to see a schedule with the end of my life marked on it, so it’s kind of hard to count down the days. And I’m very okay with that.
I have noticed that time seems to pass faster now that I’m older. A year was forever when I was in my twenties. Now when I have to get my car’s yearly inspection I grumble that it feels like I just got it done last week. (Or maybe I actually did, and I’m getting too senile to remember.)
But I’ve also noticed that when you love what you do, you never seem to have enough time to do it as much as you’d like.
My son’s semester ends Dec. 20. I think he’s dreading it because of the finals, plus he doesn’t really get a break because he’s scheduled for some classes in the winter session, which runs from then until mid-January. I have to say I’m glad to see how he’s enjoying college. It was a challenge to get his through high school, mostly because he’s sharp and can smell BS a mile away. And high school tends to be full of it.
Dave
Our perception of time’s flow is akin to a kettle on a stove. If you watch a kettle boil, it never seems to do so. Same for time. If you focus on the hours, they take forever to pass.
However, once you take your mind off the kettle, it’s whistling fiercely before you know it. Same for time. If you live in the moment, enjoying whatever you’re occupied with, the hours slip by.
I guess that means you’ve thoroughly enjoyed this semester.
Addendum:
So to answer Mich’s question on time: not necessarily. If you are enjoying life and everything it has to offer, then yes, the days fly in a blink. But, if the opposite holds true, then life becomes a tortuous prison with the hours tediously ticking by. In the latter situation, Alzheimer’s or a vegetative coma would be a blessing.
Yes, Peachy. This semester was truly a blessing. No question. I had the usual support and suggestions and camaraderie from the department, but I had such exceptional students.
And the older I get, the most I look at the here and now. It’s all we gots, mate.
d
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