I stole a glance at the enrollment numbers for the creative writing classes I teach at the community college. Not Good. This does not come entirely as a surprise. I haven’t marketed the classes and as they don’t map to any degree pathway, they are basically classes designed for learning and work product. Less and less students are taking classes to learn. More and more are there to get a piece of paper that will help them get into the job they want or make it to the next stage of the education they require in order to get the job they want. Learning for the sake of learning is a relic of my university years.
I stole that glance because I know that school is about to wind up again and that means this vacation business is about over. I’m not happy about it. I don’t have that same desire to get up and be ‘on’ for five classes a day. I actually just want to kick back and work my way towards cultivating a better understanding of my personal motivations (this is psych-speak for lazy and just want to craft and write all day).
I go back and forth on the school thing, but one thought that remains constant is that I want to put out a good product for my learners. It is all the stuff around that which makes me less inclined to show my face.