Once again I am about to embark on an adventure with my students. It is the same course, the same destination, the same transportation, the same hotel, and a very similar itinerary as last year, but it feels so different. Maybe because last time we left right after finals and got home just before Christmas, but this time we have had the holidays to relax before we start off on the whirlwind that is Humanities 302. I feel less nervous, less apprehensive, less worried. Perhaps it is because I have done this before, or perhaps it is because the holidays have lulled me into a false sense of calm. Either way, I find it a bit weird. I plan to start packing in a few minutes and wonder if that will spark some of my anxiousness. I kind of hope it does.
This year the trip will be a bit different. There are some changes to the activities and of course new students. I am really looking forward to getting to know the 18 students that will be accompanying me on this grand adventure. It is a bonding experience unlike any other I have experienced in my many years of teaching. They get to see their teacher in the world, like a normal human being, and I get to see them at their best. Those candid moments when they drop their guard and are unabashedly themselves. We get to see the real, uncensored versions of each other which, for me, gives me a greater appreciation for who they are as people. I feel privileged to be allowed into that part of their world. I wonder if they feel the same. Okay, now I am starting to get butterflies about the trip. Yes!
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