Sunday, October 02, 2005

Do I Know This Person?


I wonder if this is one of my students.
(Image from PostSecret.)

14 comments:

jettybetty said...

Have they seen their first grades yet? That sometimes make them lonely.

Back to what you said the other day--they come to school with so many ideas and opinions--and they learn so much they had no idea they were going to learn--I am guessing many of them learn a lot about loneliness they never realized they would.

JB

JMG said...

You have a good point, JB. They are exposed to many ideas that challenge their point of view. College is the first time most of them have ever had to defend their beliefs. Add to that the fact that most of them are at least a couple of hours away from home, and that can definitely create loneliness.

That postcard made me wonder how many of my students are suffering in silence.

All of my students have turned in the first written assignment and will be receiving grades in the next few days. So far, though, the grades have been pretty good.

Tony Arnold said...

JMG, I know this comment will be off the subject but...

I have to give MTSU big credit. 3 years in a row ya'll have caused us great grief. MTSU just seems to have Vandy's number. And we were doing so good.

Oh the pain...

Tony

JMG said...

Yes, Tony, I thought about you and felt sort of bad because really, the victory doesn't mean as much to me as the loss means to you. But it's always good for MTSU when we beat an SEC school. Morale is high here today.

I would love, love, love to see Vandy beat Tennessee. Do you think it's possible?

Tony Arnold said...

Anything is possible. But I really don't see it. We are playing in Knoxville (oh I dislike that place) and UT has probably the best defense in the conference.

However, we played them very close last year. It has been 23 years since we beat UT. It was 1982 at VU, I was a sophomore sitting on row 2 of the student section. One of the best games of my life. That was the last winning season we had too.

In two weeks we play Georgia for Homecoming here. It will by 20 year reunion. Ouch!

I have been a Vandy fan all my life. My first game was a basketball game when my mom was pregnant with me. My Dad and I have been going together my entire life to Vandy basketball. He is from Murfreesboro and has graduate teaching degree from MTSU.

Tony

JMG said...

Well then losing to MTSU wasn't too bad a blow for you and your family.

What a nice tradition for you and your dad! I am not a sports fan of any kind, but I especially don't like basketball. I refuse to attend a basketball game for one simple reason--and most people will think this is strange--I hate the sound of basketball shoes scuffing against the gym floor.

20 years out of college. Wow, you are old! :-)

Tony Arnold said...

JMG, that is hilarious about the gym shoe noise. It is a very distinctive sound. It is very interesting how sounds and smells can conjure certain emotions based on past exeriences.

The basketball shoes squeaking on a floor bring up such wonderful feelings of bonding with my father through 43 years of VU home games; miles and miles of leather and rubber via my gym rat years.

Everytime I smell boxed popcorn, I think about the smell of Memorial Gym.

And--WRONG! The game was that bad!!!

jettybetty said...

Okay you guys--do I need to post a picture of me in my bright TN orange shirt??? Knoxville is a wonderful place to live!!! The only trouble I have had with Vol football lately is when they played A&M in the Cotton Bowl last year--I really needed both teams to win to have a happy household. We worked it out though!
Actually, Crittermer gets frustrated with TN football, because we all know football is more important than academics at college. She did teach one of the quarterbacks--I think his name is like Erik Ange or something.
Really, Tony, sounds like you have a long, wonderful past with Vandy--you know I would never make you feel bad on purpose, don't you???


JB

JMG said...

I heard on the news this morning that one of Tennessee's players was suspended last night. (I didn't listen close enough to find out who or why.)

I hate UT because it seems that our state thinks the UT schools are way better than the rest. Therefore they get more money. MTSU actually has a larger student body than UT.

As my dad says, I'll be glad when one of these days people say about UT, "That's a really good agriculture school."

No offense to Crittemer.

JMG said...

I just looked at my last comment. I am ashamed to say that it reads like my students' essays, bad grammar and all.

Tony Arnold said...

Jettybetty, you could not possibly heap more UT abuse on me than I have endured in my 43 years. And plus it is all just good natured ribbing. I do however dislike UT, and for many of the same reasons as JMG. But that doesn't affect my feelings for my many friends who are UT fans. Nobody is perfect. :-)

All that bright orange is another reason to dislike UT. You do know why UT fans where orange all week don't you. On Saturday for the games, on Sunday while hunting, and Mon-Fri for picking up trash along the interstate.

JMG, UT is recognized as the University for the state, despite the fact the MTSU is larger. Doesn't make any sense.

I used to have a bumper sticker in the '80s that read, "Vanderbilt is the University of Tennessee.

Here is another joke for JMG. How many Vandy students does it take to change a tire? Three: one to watch the Beamer, one to mix the drinks, and one to go call Daddy. How many UT students does it take to change a tire? Just one, but he gets three hours credit for it!

Okay, Jettybetty, take your best shot! I deserve it.

Tony

jettybetty said...

No shots from me at all (at least right now!) I am not from TN, so I don't get the politics of higher education there it seems.

However, the Vandy joke was pretty funny, Tony. Part of the reason that Crittmer ended up at UTN (we have a UT here in Texas, too) was she LOVED Vandy--her last year at OC one of her major professors told her that since she was going for a MA in hisory--she should look at UTN, because she could get a TA job and come out with no debt, where at Vandy, it would be loans, and history majors generally teach history and no $$$ to pay back Vandy loans. Her dad and I tried to convince her, in that case, just to do her grad work at one of our fine TX schools, but she was in love with the state of TN. She has been very blessed in Knoxville.

In Texas we have Aggie jokes--we even have an Aggie now--but they are still really funny.

Honeee and I did our grad work at the mighty Oklahoma State--main color there is orange, too--honeee still loves OSU and wears orange all the time. I have seen shades of orange for most of my life now--they don't even seem bright to me!

We plan an interesting weekend next weekend when OSU plays A&M--I plan to wear maroon and honee plans to wear orange, of course. We are sitting in an A&M section.

Right now, I am getting read to come to Nashville tomorrow. Is there a ball game there this weekend? What is going on? We bought tickets to the Zoe Conference months ago--and I assumed I could find an empty seat on a plane--there are about 10 a day from DFW--and the planes are packed. We may have to fly through DC or something wierd just to get there.

JB

Tony Arnold said...

Cool about coming to Nashville. I am sending you an email with my personal info. Hopefully we can get together.

Tony

JMG said...

Hey JB! How cool that you'll be in Nashville! If you can take a side trip to Murfreesboro, let me know and I'll come see you. My email addy is:
tangledweb@bellsouth.net