The Art of Sitting Still

Classes are in full swing again at this beautiful university. The good part about my classes is that I am in physically in class only 3-5 times per week due to online courses and those that only meet occasionally. The downside of this is that the class period is 2.5 hours long. I have not had to sit for that long in the same class for a long time. This is especially hard for me since my last semester was spent student teaching which was fun and dynamic and hardly ever boring. Now I have these long blocks of time when all I do is sit in an uncomfortable desk and listen to lectures. This is how the hours usually go:

5:30-5:45-- Oh, ok, this is pretty cool. I enjoy being in grad school.

5:45-6:15-- I didn't look at the clock for half an hour! Woo! Might enjoy a snack...

6:15-6:30-- All right, I think that about covers it. Let's peace.

6:30-6:35-- spent spaced out, no real thoughts

6:35-7:00-- It's way past my dinner time. My stomach is making the sounds a fork makes when you stuff it down the garbage disposal.

7:00-7:01-- DEAR GOD THAT WAS ONLY A MINUTE?

7:01-7:09-- When it gets to 7:10, there's only 1 hour left!

7:09-7:10-- 60 minutes left! That's when the big hand goes one time around the clock!

7:10-7:30-- I am literally dying of starvation. I vow to eat dinner before class from now on.

7:30-7:45-- How is this professor still talking? My brain is about as sharp as the edge of my pillow...oh God to have a pillow right now...

7:45-7:50-- Any time now, we're gonna wrap this up.

7:50-7:55-- Truly, I admire your perseverance, but I was ready to go 90 minutes ago!

7:55-8:00-- OK, Prof, let's get real. You're going to get paid whether or not you extend this class to the full 2 hours 40 minutes it's scheduled for. I, however, may not even make it home at this point because my stomach is eating itself due to a lack of proper supper.

8:00-8:01-- If I was a real teacher, I could be at home in bed with a pile of papers to grade. Grad school was a terrible life decision.

8:01-8:09-- ARE YOU STILL TALKING?

8:09--8:10-- class is dismissed and students blink slowly trying to figure out what happened over the last 2 hours.

8:10-8:11-- mad dash to the door

Really, I love grad school. I just wish I knew how to stay interested in the material for more than a few minutes.