The End of Summer

Although the September equinox is still almost a month away, summer is over as far as my academic calendar is concerned. Classes start next week, and this week is filled with meetings, orientations, student issues, various defenses, a gaggle of social events, and classroom preparations. And, to make it official, the Beloit College Mindset List is out, reminding us about the generational gap between faculty and students, and it's scarier than ever. The items that make me feel especially old are:

• The World Wide Web has been an online tool since they were born.
• They never “rolled down” a car window.

Good grief!

I'm looking forward to the new school year, but I could have used another couple of weeks of summer research time. I don't think there will ever be enough summer research time. While I'm pretty happy with my productivity this summer, I don't know if I'll ever get over the feeling that it's not enough, although I'm much calmer about the transition back to school this year than I was last year. Perhaps that's a sign that I'm getting used to this professor gig.