Professor Sharon

Well, here we go! Although I need to go to campus for a couple of days in January to finish up some paperwork, clear off the desk (and to clean out the snack drawer – apologies to the mouse), and finish the end of semester grading, I am very close to being officially on sabbatical!

It is the beginning of an interesting time for me. I have the privilege and honor of having the resources to take some time from the day to day workings of a teaching job to spend larger amounts of time on all sorts of tasks for the next eight months. Some will be mundane, as those closets and file drawers in my home office will attest, others I hope will be more important to my teaching when I return. On the list of things I proposed to do is get more proficient at Spanish (well, okay let’s face it, just to say more than a few words!), and do some writing and reading in my field. So, spouse and I are embarking on a 5 week language immersion session in Spain as well as other visits to other countries (details to come) for a total of four of those months. We leave on February 14.

It is a bit of an ending as well. Each semester brings good-byes to my students, and the ending of specific times well spent together learning. Over the last few days, I’ve realized how much I will miss watching those students gain knowledge, and self-growth next semester. I’m hoping some of them will visit me via this blog on occasion.

This next week will bring the end of a calendar year as well as the beginning of a semester of adventures! Here’s to my own learning journey!