Confession: Sometimes, I’m not overly fond of the first semester students.
On an individual basis, they seem to be nice enough but what gets my goat is the fact that they love to congregate in Classroom 5, the designated Second Semester domain (all of our classes are scheduled in Classroom 5). When I was a first semester, I would never have dreamed of camping out in a classroom that was reserved for another semester (although The Annex is the designated realm of first semesters, my study areas of choice were the fishbowl and Classroom 1, an unassigned quiet study space near the ocean) but for some reason, this new crop of first semesters likes nothing more than coming to our classroom and sprawling out like they own it. I get a perverse sort of pleasure whenever we have classes after 1:00 and they have to pack up their lunches and leave. I know it’s a silly peeve, but there you have it. That’s what annoys me about first semesters.
However – yesterday, the first semester students had their first anatomy lab practical*, practically on the heels of Mini I (we were lucky last semester; our practical was scheduled ahead of the Mini). As a pal and I passed them lined up anxiously outside of the anatomy lab, my pal snickered and said, ‘Don’t you feel sorry for them?’ I nodded, because I did. (more…)