The Reluctant Academic

Why, oh why do I always dread the beginning of a new class? (No, this is not a rhetorical question; extra credit will be awarded for insightful answers.) How can performance anxiety still be such an annoying presence after six years? (Again, not rhetorical.) And how do you spell AARRRGGH*#@%$!!!! (Never mind, think I got it.)

The second-half-of-the-semester course I had been pretending was still way off in "the future" begins in just over a week, and now a new section is being added. For someone who is in complete denial, having a new class to try to ignore at this late date is just so...rude. I suppose some people would find this an enviable position to be in. (Some people also think eating liver is a good idea. Some people are clearly not to be trusted.) It's not that I'm inflexible. I can duck when shit is thrown at me, and just ask me about multitasking -- boy howdy can this girl multitask, especially if it involves managing several instant messaging windows, a game of snood, a bunch of highly crucial emails, and some iTunes playlist creating, while also grading papers. But now there are twice as many performances to produce, twice the opportunity for my cowardice to replace my normally sparkling wit and fascinating intellect. (Only a slight exaggeration, that.) Twice the anxiety, half the enthusiasm. Yeeha.