Having a Party During English Class

A new month! Hello!

My fourth grade teacher used to tell us that on the morning of the first day of the month, when you are getting out of bed, saying "rabbit, rabbit" before your feet touch the floor grants you a whole month of luck. I have remembered this since I was eleven, so clearly it resonated with me. But I have never remembered to say "rabbit, rabbit." Never once. And I forgot again this month.

Enough about bad luck. Bring on the happy.

And today there was a lot of happy. Including a 'party' during my creative non fiction class.

Though my university works on the quarter system, I am enrolled in a course that is broken up into semesters. And the first semester ended today. We all turned in our final essays and ate festive foods like chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate chip cookies. Healthful classmates brought bananas and pretzels with humus.

It reminded of those days during elementary school in which, instead of class, the teachers would throw a celebration for some holiday or someone's birthday. Those were the BEST days.

A party is always a wonderful thing. And something about throwing a celebration when you're supposed to be "doing work" makes it all the more exciting.

To honor the journey we've all taken this semester, a few people volunteered to read excerpts of their final pieces. That is my favorite part. I have seen a lot of my classmates grow over the course of the semester and produce some awesome work. Great group of people.

Then we got derailed on an ongoing discussion we've been having about Joe Wenderoth, writer and poet. A few weeks ago our professor assigned an essay by Wenderoth that polarized the class. If you want to check it out, it is called "Memo to the Department." I just wanted to hear more people read from their essays.

I will say that I am a fan of Wenderoth's poetry. For a crazy read check out Letters To Wendy's. Wenderoth wrote a prose poem a day for a little over a year on Wendy's comment cards. His work provides a commentary on American consumer culture. It's a novel little book that can be wildly confusing and highly amusing. Recommended.