Yesterday I finished the last final paper I'll have to write for TC, and after an exam on Tuesday night I'm done with grad school. It feels both like it's been a long time coming and that it crept up on me. When I come back to New York in January, after a two-week trip to enjoy the blissful dullness of Visalia, my day-to-day life will look pretty different.
No school, obviously, so I'm going to be filling my hours in different ways. I wrapped up my practicum work with Miguel (he made great progress with me, but I've come to think that he might have a long term memory deficit and wonder how much he will retain before he begins work with a new TC student in January) and one of the kids I tutor is moving to Seattle.
I've added two new kids to the roster, however, and I'm really excited about both of them. One, Andy (pseudonym) is a darling sixth grader who wants to be an actor when he grows up; he's rehearsing for a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in which he'll play Puck. Apparently he has problems with reading comprehension. After our initial assessment yesterday, I decided that he's not great a picking out details, but there don't seem to be any glaring problems, so our hours together should be pleasant rather than frustrating. The other, Eddie, in 7th grade, needs pre-algebra work. Luckily, I know just enough math to be very slightly ahead of him. He's a sweetheart, and when I asked him what he thought after our first session he said, "That was fun!" Fun? Algebra? God help us. I'm delighted to spend an hour a week being handsomely paid to work with such fantastic kids and their parents, who are just as lovely. Another perk: both kids live blocks away from me. It's great to leave the house 15 minutes before I'm supposed to be anywhere - a rarity in this city. I'll probably pick up at least one more kid in January, and I'll most likely start seeing one of my current clients twice a week, so that'll keep me at least somewhat occupied. And it's coat check season again, which fills my Friday nights/Saturday mornings with, well, coats.
There's marathon training to fill my hours as well. I'm taking about 10 days off because of a tendonitis flare-up in my left foot. While I miss my daily training, it's 28 degrees out there at the moment. This happened very suddenly, and I think I need a bit of time to adjust. I saw the first snowflakes of the year on Monday afternoon, but they didn't stick. We'll see if we get some of the real stuff in time for Christmas.
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