In Eckleburg's Eyes - 2/2/2009, Part 2

News & Notes from Saturday, January 31st, 2009, Part 1

-On Saturday morning, I arrived bright and early to the UT campus where my class was scheduled to run from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. I took this photo of my vehicle from my classroom. At UT, when you can actually see your car from the class you are attending, you have gotten to class early. (Note the textbook parking job. If you know me, you know how truly rare this is.)

-At professor RGB’s suggestion, class was very casual. Even RGB did not don a tie. Students also provided breakfast. One brought juice, another bagels, and another donuts from Krispy Kreme. One of my classmates, Scott, even made homemade cinnamon bread from an old family recipe. While the atmosphere was as good as possible, the day was still long.

-In the morning, we covered the concept of Andragogy as laid out by Malcolm Knowles'(1913-1997) followed by Transformative Learning. Each of these sessions was informative but long. In the transformative learning portion, we watched an interview with transformative learning pioneer Jack Mezirow (pictured). The interview was part of a series called Conversations on Lifelong Learning conducted by Gretchen Bersch. The interview was taped in April 1993. RGB made a cardinal mistake that I learned from screening an Abraham movie without viewing it: Never show a film you have not screened beforehand. The DVD skipped profusely before stopping. To make matters worse, RGB was out of the room when this occurred. Fortunately, the class is comprised of a lot of IT (information technology) grad students who could presumably help. Unfortunately, it had already been a long day and everyone was pretty content to just sit there. When asked to remedy the situation an IT student named Chad declined noting “I’m watching a boxing match!” (on his laptop).

-At 12:25 we dispersed for a one-hour lunch break. I took my Subway sandwich I had bought the night before to Thompson-Boling Arena. ESPN was filming College Gameday at the stadium on this day and I hoped to sit in the rafters and observe on my break. Unfortunately, I just missed the end of the session and the arena was locked. I was so happy for the respite, it honestly did not bother me.

-My classmates were, however, bothered that they could not move their cars without paying a $5 fee to re-park. By 1 pm, the event parking crew was closing down lots. The Tennessee basketball game later in the night was to tip off at 9 pm!

-All day long, I had Rocky on my mind. Like Rocky Balboa, my goal on this day was to “go the distance”. After the break, I knew I was lagging so I enlisted my friend JCP as my “cut man” just in case I needed one. Her reply? “The only thing I could cut, I don’t think you want me to cut.” She is a midwife. I agreed.

-After class reconvened, we completed some course evaluations and again broke into groups. My group presented Social Cognitive Theory. After hearing class presentations (which seemed to endure forever), class actually dismissed early. As I left, I was amazed to see the campus covered in scalpers. I took this photo taken of said scalpers on my way home. It was taken at 3:47 pm. Did I mention tip-off was at 9 pm?

-It had been a long day (read: understatement) but the good news is that the class hit the mid-term point before February! RGB also assured me that my file would be reviewed this week. He realized he could not wait for MHZ to return so he and John Peters (JMP) will be reviewing my file shortly. Please keep this in your prayers.