After a three-year hiatus I am once again teaching French. You know the old teacherly saying, “It seems like the students are getting younger every year?” Well, in my case, it’s true. These are the youngest students I have ever taught. They don’t remember 9/11. They don’t know who Michael Jackson was. They definitely …

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Well, it’s not really raining, much less pouring, but there is a definite sprinkle over my head in the scholarly realm. I came home from San Diego to a letter from the MLA telling me that they are going to publish an article I wrote for the new collection Approaches to Teaching Claire de Duras’s Ourika. The editors of …

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Monday Morning. May 15, 2006. A dreary, rain-pounding day. I wore pin-striped black slacks, a dark knit top, scuffed leather boots, and a yellow raincoat. I kissed my husband and baby. The baby smelled like summer. I got in the car. I drove over the green hill to campus. I stepped in a puddle getting out of the car. I …

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Grades are turned in, papers are filed away, students are graduated, and four months of delicious summer yawn ahead. This is my favorite time of year, when everything seems possible. I will finish writing two articles. I will complete the book manuscript revisions. I will prep all of my fall courses. I will research …

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