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Since my last post, things have calmed down considerably. The semester has ended, Christmas has come and gone, and I’ve taken some well-earned R&R after a semester that was busy, but gone all too fast.I’m happy to say that I did extremely well this semester in terms of grades, and I am also very proud of the work I have produced (and continue to work on), which in addition to some personal essays also includes a teaching portfolio and syllabi for Writing and Rhetoric I and II. And guess what? I’m going to be teaching Writing and Rhetoric II in the spring! I’m incredibly excited to enter the classroom as an instructor and to meet my future students.

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And while I am preparing for the coming semester, I am taking some time to enjoy the city without the pressures of strict timetables, worrying about rushing to and from class or having time to complete my readings or assignments. A friend recently came to visit from Florida, so my fiancé and I took him around to show him some of the sights.

Reflection in the Bean

And I finally got to see some places that I have been longing to visit, but didn’t have time to during the semester, like the Field Museum.

Me and Sue

And although I don’t always have the time to take full advantage of all of the wonderful things Chicago holds, it is still one of the reasons that I chose to study at Columbia. The city is pulsing with life and energy and culture, whether I am walking in my neighborhood, going down to the beach, or wandering downtown. We are always surrounded by the past and present simultaneously, a rich history of architecture, art, and culture, while pushing towards the future. On Michigan Avenue I can stand on the site where Fort Dearborn once stood, surrounded by skyscrapers old and modern, as the ancient river flows beneath.

Photo Credit: Jyoti Srivastava / chicago-infrastructure.blogspot.com

It is important to know where things began in order to truly innovate, to create change, progress, and elevate our chosen forms. That is one of the reasons I came to Chicago and to Columbia.

In my first semester, I took History of the Essay where we read personal essays from the beginning of the form all the way to the 20^th century. We watched as the essay shifted, grew, changed styles and approaches, how it continues to grow and change under our influence as practitioners of the form. Walking around Chicago, you can see how the city has grown and shifted, progressed, and changed, trading neoclassical faces carved in stone for sleek modernism of reflective glass and steel. They live side by side, as do the writers on my bookshelf. The past and present co-exist, play off of one another, elevate, and inspire, both in the landscape and in the classroom.

I look forward to the next semester, but now I’m going to enjoy the leisurely pace of winter break, eat some cookies, continue working on my winter reading list, and take some nice long walks around the city. Stay warm, friends!