favorite students 1

p. is a student who suffered last year, right around this time last year, from a tumor at the front of his brain which had to be removed. his surgery was very successful and though there were some rocky moments when we weren't sure we would see him again, or that he had changed drastically because of his surgery, he is well and pretty much almost all the way back to normal. there are ways he has changed, though-- he seems more strident in his speech, is more likely to ramble loudly, and has lost a certain edge in his personality, a kind of dry wit that used to be there that just isn't there anymore. this does not change the way i love him, he is one of my favorite people, he is generous, kind, funny, and can roll with whatever you throw him. 

e. is a student whose grade point average is somewhere around 104. last year, during her junior year, she would come into my office almost every morning just to hang out while i was checking my emails and getting ready for the school day. we started a ritual of choosing a word at random from the dictionary and putting it up on the dry erase board. she would comment on my music, or my omnipresent snack of apples and carrots, and we would name things-- starting with stuffed animals left in my office, like a stuffed dog with no nose (derek), the naming mania eventually spread all the way to incidental washers found in the black box (billy), or discarded pomettes from costumes (hillary). e. is one of my favorite people because of her steadfastness, her sharp mind, her sensitivity to and curiosity in the world around her. she asked me to attend the summa reception with her this year, which felt like being asked to the prom.

i will miss these people.