Class

I was in the library last weekend looking for audiobooks I could borrow. Audiobooks help keep me sane during my everyday commute. I saw and grabbed an audiobook on the poetry of Robert Frost. I don’t remember much about Frost except for his haunting (and often quoted) Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.

I was listening to it during my morning drive and I was suddenly back in the classroom – freshman year, World Literature. I had a fantastic time and had a wonderful professor in Ms. Susana Macapagal. Literature became so real, so relevant. Literature became memorable and moving.

I remember during the final year of high school contemplating what course to take in college. I was considering taking computer science or the humanities. I figured I could learn about software and code later in life but college was the perfect time to learn about life. I surmised that programming is a skill I could teach myself later in life but college was the ideal time to learn humanities and the arts. My freshman year proved me right.

Call me crazy, call me a nut. During my senior year in college, I found some free time in between journalism classes. I approached Ms. Macapagal and asked if I could attend her class, sit down by the corner and simply listen. I remember the incredulous look in her face. I think she was a bit annoyed at the idea at first and might have thought she was a subject of a joke or an investigative report. I managed to convince her though. It was a sincere request and she agreed. I think I remember seeing a slight twinkle in her eye. So I took Ms. Macapagal’s lit class twice in my 4 years. The first time was because I had to. The second time because I really wanted to. I sat down in her class several times and enjoyed the reading.

Going back to Frost, I wonder if poetry and prose still matter to today’s students. I wonder if it will be as real, as relevant to my children as it was at one point for me. I wonder if we have diluted and irrevocably reduced the magic of words and phrases with texting and blogging and other new methods of communication.

Paying attention again to the audiobook and my commute, I realize I have miles to go…I have miles to go.