Why This Blog...

On Monday November 5th, 2012 classes resumed at Nassau Community College in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The class I teach on Monday mornings at 8am, Prep English, had been scheduled to take an essay exam a full two weeks before on the theme "Journeys in Education." I considered the real possibility of showing up to an empty room during such an emotionally difficult time. My personal feeling, that work can be a good way to escape from our problems, is the path I decided to take. But I did add this as a choice of prompt on the test: 2. Write an essay entitled: “My Journey Through Hurricane Sandy.” In a carefully planned and paragraphed essay, discuss what you actually did before, during and after the storm. How did it effect your life? What did you learn from living without electricity, transportation, etc.? I figured that writing can be a good way to digest and process experience. I never expected what I saw that morning: a full classroom of students, eager to get back to work. 17 out of 18 were accounted for. (The 18th did return.) Most wrote about the week before with incredible detail and honesty, and I have invited each to post their work here.