Grade School

This week isn't my finals week, but it might as well be. Here's the agenda:

1. Write term paper for MUS 24c
2. Write term paper for RST 141B
3. Revise and perform final composition for MUS 7A
4. Organize and Present entry for "Visual Dictionary of American Religion" for RST 1
5. Breathe
6. Prepare answers for on-line unit exam for RST 1

For those of you in college, this is normal. It just means that for a week, every waking moment is spent trying to be the best student that I can be. (Not that I don't try for the other 9 weeks, but this week is where it kicks up a notch. BAM!) I'm not busy - my life is just really, really full.

It reminds of 5th grade. And Ms. Lepiesha. Bless her heart - she taught me a lot, but I really detested her. She was very particular about us having our backpacks squarely on the backs of our chairs (to prevent tripping accidents) and that all of our outerwear was hung neatly on the little pegs next to the door. I remember times when she would yell at me for doing something wrong, or pull me out of class to yell at me and tell me to "stop those crocodile tears" as they streamed down my face. She had a severe face and these thick, black-rimmed glasses. She was scary, and I had her for two years in elementary school. Ouch.

One of her punishments of choice was to make me write sentences. It would usually be something like, "I am sorry that I talk so often in class, and I promise to be more courteous to my teacher by speaking only when appropiate," 500 times over (She liked the long ones.) The kicker was that I was only allowed to write the sentences during recess. So as the kids played on the jungle gym, competed in tetherball, and laughed and frollicked in total freedom, I had to sit next to the classroom door, which faced the playground, and write out my sentences, one after the other.

The end of this quarter is so close that I can taste it, but I am trapped here for 4 more days, which feels like 4 years. In between thesis statements, I close my eyes and pretend that I can read any book I want, get 8 hours of sleep every night, not have to wake up to an alarm clock, do nothing but waste time with Jesus - but it is not yet this time.

Back to my work I go, because I know that when I'm done, I'll have done what needed to be done, and done it well. As soon as I finish up these sentences, I'll be running to the playground - hope to see you there. Talk to you soon.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)