Next week the school year begins, and as I sit here in my home office, I wonder what the year will be like.

It is a time of change in the world and on my campus. I’ll be in a classroom maskless for the first time in two years, we have a new President in their second semester and an evolving student body. The world around us is still filled with hate, and empathy seems to be at an all-time low for many.

I’ll be teaching the same three courses I have for years. I am excited about a new first-year experience I’m teaching alongside professors from the Theater, English, and Chemistry departments. “What’s Your Story?” should be a lot of fun for all of us. Merging all of the students together in our experimental theater will be a challenge that I’m excited to face.

This summer, I was given a new title of Professor of the Practice of Business and Management. I’ve worked hard for this and continue to work to ensure that non-tenure track faculty across our campus are more respected and treated equally. So many colleagues worked hard to make this a reality, and we still have more work to do even as we take positive steps forward.

This summer, I took the time to relax and unplug a bit. I read a bunch and watched a ton of shows and movies. I continue to play around with AI-generated art to supplement my ideas and have been learning a lot. The Prusa began printing again, and I still think it would be fun to start painting more of my prints, but I haven’t taken the full plunge yet to try it.

I prepared my courses early with plans to spend August channeling my creativity into a couple of possible projects. Jaz needing knee surgery and constant monitoring during recovery threw those plans away. She is healing but is still restricted to no exercise for a few more weeks.

This semester will also find me mentoring new faculty members, continuing work on evolving our department’s internship program, and a few more things I can’t share yet.

Wish me luck, and I hope whatever next week holds for you that it is positive and inspiring.