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Friday 23 March 2018

Craziness the week after spring break

• Monday 3/19: I tried to answer the call for college representation at the final county budget forum, but I misinterpreted the location as being a lot more walkable than it actually was. I ended up hiking the Northwest Branch Trail in the remaining hours of daylight. When trying to cross the stream by jumping from rock to rock, I lost my footing and ended up smashing my forehead against the rock. Also, my sneakers got soaked when my feet slid down the rock into the water. At least the lens of my glasses didn't shatter, even if it is now too scratched up to show the world clearly.
• Tuesday 3/20: The statistics exam is written, proofread, and ready for photocopying. If the college hadn't closed early on account of the wintry mix, then I'd have been able to drop off the exam in the Assessment Center. At least the MC shuttle still operated for another hour after the official closing, providing me a ride back from Germantown.
• Wednesday 3/21: College closes in response to the winter storm. Ethan and I chat by phone to finalize our preparations for the STEAM roundtable. Last-minute tweaks to the precalculus exam would have been better spent coming up with an alternate exam for students with legitimate (transportation-related) excuses for not being able to make it to campus on Thursday.
• Thursday 3/22: College delays its opening until noon so that roads are more navigable. My usual 11:15 rendezvous with the MC-shuttle from Rockville to Germantown is therefore called off, and I have to rely on the 12:20 departure to get me to Germantown on time. I manage to make the necessary 25 copies of the exam before our 1pm start time, thereby proving the viability of the 12:20 shuttle as an option for future commutes. I choose to postpone until 14:20 the copying of handouts for the STEAM event.
• Friday 3/23: Statistics exams were photocopied and left in my RC111 locker last night. My only job today is to proctor this exam with students who haven't been regularly exposed to this material for almost two weeks. It feels like a recipe for failure. Speaking of failure, I actually do have another job today, and that is the posting of midterm grades by 5pm. I chained myself to the desk of MP145 in the hour or so after class in order to ensure this task was accomplished, for otherwise I might have rushed home and faced the distractions of packing for my trip this weekend.