This is generally the best week of the season for me. The last week of class is a time to reflect on the awesomeness that transpired over the course of a semester and think ahead to what Machiavellian schemes may come in the next. This one is different. I’m witnessing a lot of change around the campus that points to ‘life as usual’ being completely over. For one, a co-worker who I care a great deal for is leaving and with her leaves the spirit of the center she leads. Between you, me, and the web, I have my doubts if it will ever be as good as it is with her leading the way. Her departure definitely leaves me questioning my own goals on campus. My number one priority is to reach students and make sure they walk out of my classroom better learners than when they walked in. This should be enough, but it never is. You can’t be just a teacher as a residential faculty member. You are always looked to for more. At the University level you’re looked to for publications and fund-raising. At the JuCo level you’re looked to for leading initiatives and showing involvement and engagement in everything set forth in your path. Of course that level of engagement diminishes the amount of time and effort you put towards any particular engagement, leading to weak production in all.
Maybe then I want to be remembered as the guy who did a few things really really well as opposed to the guy who did a whole lot but really didn’t do much of anything.
Some Thoughts:
- Paul Walker is dead and perhaps with him the Fast and Furious franchise. At the heart of the series is the relationship between Walker and Diesel–best exemplified by the (relative) failure of the films that did not have one or the other. However, there is a silver lining here. The structure of the last film allowed for several main characters to be killed off in 7. I wondered how good of a film 7 could even be if we went into it knowing that the villain (Bad ass Jason Statham) wouldn’t really be allowed to off main characters. What threat could he be if all he does is ex out secondary characters? And what secondary characters at that? I mean, they brought in Rhonda Rousey to be the foil to Rodriguez, so I’m led to believe this is a crew on crew battle. That being said, now that Walker has passed, they need to find a way to have him pass in the film. This will require script changes, but it will ultimately raise the threat level of the villain and validate the whole film.