Hello Everyone!
It’s officially Christmas time! We finished decorating our home for the holidays, with our tree up and decorated, presents wrapped, and stockings hung. Just when we thought things couldn't get any more Christmasy, our heater gave out, so it truly felt like I was walking in a winter wonderland.
With that said, let’s find out What’s Up With Will…
While I still have a week of finals ahead, this was my last week of classes for the semester! It is crazy how quickly it all flew by.
In the class where I am a co-instructor-in-training, the students wrapped up their special occasion speeches. I was truly amazed by their work and by how much everyone has grown as public speakers and communicators. After the final presentations, we passed around pieces of paper and wrote notes of encouragement to one another. We then ended the class by circling up and sharing one thing we were proud of from the class. When it was my turn, I shared that I was proud of developing confidence in myself as a teacher. Being responsible for someone else’s education can feel daunting and overwhelming, but these students have taught me that I’m capable of doing it. It felt like a beautiful encapsulation of what I have been learning about critical pedagogy.
In my critical pedagogy course, we ended the semester with a potluck and a roundtable conversation of current Graduate Teaching Assistants and several community college instructors. They shared how they have implemented these ideas we have been discussing all semester in their own classrooms. The most consistent piece of advice was that no matter how well you plan, things will go off the rails, and when they do, you need to be able to adapt.
In my Introduction to Communication Studies class, we conducted peer reviews for the introductions to our literature reviews. I received some helpful feedback and used it to inform the rest of my first draft, which I finished this week. My goal is to wrap up finals before finals week officially ends, so I can start winter break early!
After my last class, a group of us went out for drinks to celebrate! Our stop was Dahlia, which had both delicious and beautifully curated drinks like the Purple Rain, a gin, mezcal, and lychee liquor-based drink with a side of a purple butterfly pea-infused lavender syrup to pour, or “rain”, on top.
Unfortunately, Sath is leaving the Bay Area at the end of December, but we gathered a ton of former Delta Sigs who live in the Bay for one last hurrah at none other than Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack. Everyone ate mounds of the signature spaghetti and meatballs underneath a portrait of Young Dolly Parton, and we all caught up with each other, learning about the work that each of us was doing. It was great to see everyone, as some people I haven’t talked to since undergrad.
Changing gears, to get into the holiday spirit, we got free tickets to the Lesher Center’s Production of “A Christmas Carol”, featuring the time-honored tale about the triumph of compassion over capitalism. It was also produced with the AXIS Dance Company, one of the nation's most acclaimed ensembles of disabled, non-disabled, d/Deaf, and neurodiverse performers. I have never seen the movie “A Christmas Carol”, having only seen adaptations with Sesame Street or the Muppets. I really had to applaud the set designers and the A/V team, as they truly did exceptional work.
On the weekend, we went into the city for XICA, a dedicated gluten-free Mexican restaurant, for brunch. We sat sipping Tamarindo Margaritas while eating extra crispy Fried Chicken and Churro Waffles. We practically never get brunch, because it doesn’t seem to be as big here as it was in the South. It’s a shame, though, as I am always down for a good combo meal.
While in the city, we also stopped at Winter Walk, SF’s 12-day street market celebration that transforms two blocks of Union Square into the North Pole. It had food trucks, a holiday marketplace, live performances, and if you are lucky, you might even meet Santa, as we did!
I also played Magic: The Gathering with friends in a One Draft to Rule Them All, with a special Lord of the Rings crossover set. I have not played MTG for quite some time because of how busy I have been, but fortunately, it’s just like riding a bike. I ended up only losing one game out of the several matches I played!
Finally, we did our yearly Secret Santa Gift Exchange with my pledge brothers from Delta Sig. There were some stand-out gifts this year, and I was particularly enthused about the gifts I received: a “Main Character Energy.” t-shirt and a “Blogging Mode: On” tote bag!
Sorry for the brevity of this week, but I have finals to do. Now, I am off to finish typing these final papers. Wish me luck!
As a big fan of the comedy sketch “Who’s on First”, Rylee suggested to me that I watch this clip. It did not disappoint!
