Back to school

The leaves are starting to change colors. Large amounts of ragweed litters the air. The BU girls are out in their glittery half naked glory. Summer is over.

Normally, the start of a new semester is a source of irritation. New ID cards, having to get study cards signed, having to justify your existance in the school for one more year. Autumn is also the time I get that dreaded question, "So do you think you can graduate this year?" And the sad realization that I've accomplished so little in the lab.

This year, I have turned over a new leaf. I am kind of excited about the new year and the idea of being around undergrads does not give me the willies. In the spring, V and I wrote a proposal for to teach a class, and it was accepted. The only caveat is that we have to attract at least 4 students.

We attended a biology class fair on Friday, in which we gave out our syllabi and friendly smiles. Our class is about protein degradation. Next to us was a professor teaching virology and world health. I started feeling poor self esteem as hordes of students flocked to his table and ours had only a few visitors. One kid even told me our class looked "too sciencey." Yikes, good thing it was not "too englishy."

Not to be deterred, our first class is tomorrow and I am hoping to have four students that think a science class that is sciencey is a good thing. I will prepare notes, powerpoint slides, the whole shebang. No more fun in Japan. Looks like school has started again.