The fall semester is already half-way to half-way. Four-weeks in, and all is well thus far, good students, enjoyable courses, and a seemingly minimal amount of time wasted in soul-sapping meetings. The course that I am finding the most enjoyable so far this semester is one that I have not taught before, but volunteered to give a go because it seemed like an interesting topic to take for a 16-week spin.

I feel quite fortunate to be a part of a vocation that allows me to explore my curiosities and interests, and share that exploration with students that are willing to open themselves up to the experience. The degree to which this opening up occurs is of course highly variable from student-to-student and day-to-day.

We all have days that we would prefer to be left alone, to just be allowed to be in a space without having to be completely of that space, to be among people and not necessarily with people. Recognizing and allowing this in the present may lead to extended bouts of full engagement in the future…or not.

The reason for the disengagement of a student in your classroom can be for any number of reasons, some of which you have control over and most of which you do not. Maybe they find the revealing snugness of your khaki trousers to be troubling, or your misshapen head to be a distraction. The former can easily be addressed with the Zubaz in you Tickle Trunk, and the latter could possibly be camouflaged with the aid of a smartly tailored beret.

Maybe this new course is so enjoyable simply because it’s new, and the luster has yet to be dulled by the semester-after-semester film that can accumulate on a course you’ve rolled out with such frequency that its roll has regressed to more of a drag…like a body from a musty cellar…so I’ve been told.

Aging and Death is the name of my new course, well actually, it’s not a new course, it’s been around awhile, it’s just new to me. So it goes. So it will go until it doesn’t I suppose.

The portion of the course that students seem to be getting the most meaning from is the Senior Partner portion. Each student had to find someone 65-years old or older who would agree to provide their perspective on various questions every few weeks.

Since I was asking my students to do this I told them that I would as well, and I asked my mom to be my Senior Partner. After some thought, and bit of reluctance, she agreed to take part and lend her thoughts and experiences to the course. Like my students, I have enjoyed the experience immensely.

The book I chose for this course is “Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande, a wonderful book that offers tremendous insight into aging and death. For those that would like to play along a bit at home, here are a few of the questions students, and their Senior Partners, have wrestled with over the past few weeks:

  • What do you find beautiful about our aging and death? What do you find troubling?

  • How do you think your family would react if you told them, “I’m ready”?