Monday, December 17, 2007

The End of a Long Road

This semester is officially over. My grades are in. What a tough five months! The government faculty was supposed to have six people. But we lost Greg Goldey to cancer and Noelle N'Diaye to a drug arrest while a third very valuable colleague got a good offer from another university.

It seems like every day has been a scramble at work.

I know this sounds cliched, but there were many sources of inspiration and consolation as well. Like everyone else, I was inspired by the courage with which Greg dealt with his illness and how he kept growing as a person even as his health collapsed. My government colleagues really stepped up to the plate and I was privileged to see a number of students continue to grow in their academic skills and as people.

Our house at the edge of the forest has always been a healing place. Now it served to heal me. Or maybe it was just Mrs. RSI who seems more than ever to radiate a special kind of warmth.

Shakespeare writes in the "To Be or Not to Be" soliloguy in Hamlet that it's fear of what happens after death--"the undiscovered country"--that keeps us attached to life amongst a "sea of troubles." Having found myself and my friends surrounded by seas of troubles over the last six months, I find that to be fundamentally untrue. Even in the hardest of times, I've seen people here find many sources of love, friendship, collegiality, and fellow-feeling to inspire and console them as they weather the storms.

And, with that, I'll try to catch up on some sleep.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's good to see you are doing well. Ever read any Nietzsche these days. Well, I'm living my life out in Tokyo, Japan working on my dissertation, and become sort of any expert on Japanese.

James 'Jamie' Thomas

email me if you get a chance
jimbointokyo@gmail.com

Ric Caric said...

Great to hear from you Jamie. Glad to see that you're reading the blog. I'll be e-mailing you tomorrow.

Cleo said...

Noelle shoulda just said "nnnyaaaaahhh!!!"

Anonymous said...

Are you high when you write this stuff?