First Day of School with Students, University of Arkansas

I should have been more prepared this morning when I arrived to campus. No parking! Students parked in the blue faculty reserve and they are not supposed to but freshmen students don't realize how much the ticket will be if they park in blue reserve. The only day of the year I can never find a parking place is on the first day of school. I had to drive around for 10 minutes to find a place to park.

Then, I took the elevator and when the doors opened there were students sitting on the benches and floors waiting for their class to start. All had backpacks that appeared to be full and heavy.

I took my laptop to the computer tech person for a quick upgrade. The quick upgrade will be ready on Wednesday! At least my main computer and printer is at home.

I met with one prospective student who quickly decided to be one of my advisees. I sent him to the advising center to change his major. Then, another meeting with a faculty member. A quick check on my iPhone for urgent emails took some time. I may be the only person on earth who hates typing on an iPhone.

By the end of the day my calendar got a workout today. I was hoping that this year would allow me more free time as I rotated off 3 university committees and one college committee. However, that didn't last long. I'm back on one university committee and one, maybe two, college committees. Some people are of the thought that since I have been here so long I know what I'm doing.

My most important task of the day was decorating Mr. Carter's office. He is a colleague of mine and his office is right next to mine. We discussed last week what he could do and today I did it. I think he likes it. We are in a rennovated building and it's just different enough from the way it used to be that what worked back then no longer works.

I love freshmen! I had the cutest email this morning. "Dr. Orr, since your class is online do I still have to wake up at 8:00 a.m.?" I told her no, she could wake up at 8:15 a.m. and everything would be fine. I was just kidding, of course. Another student emailed me asking for help in trying to figure out what her major is. Now, that concerns me. Patience is the rule. What looks obvious to us is not always obvious.

Well, I'm debating if I need to start baking some homemade bread. The computer tech people like my homemade bread. Probably time to start letting that dough rise! I really need my laptop back.

As I got ready to leave for the day I looked out my 3-story window one more time to see if I could see my nephew walking by. Nope. I really hope he had as much fun today as I did.

I had so much fun I'm getting ready for a glass of wine and I'm going to bed. Aw, the first day of school...