Fired up!

As my allergies are kicking me in the sinus cavity, I spent most of today grading essays from my online classes at Arizona Western College. I did steal a couple of hours on my bike this morning, but it was not as enjoyable as I had hoped it would be what with the cranium rocking headache I had almost the whole time. In any case, as I was reading the essays, I realized that more than anything, I wanted my students to get excited about something, to branch out and actually learn something brand-spanking new. I am going to be really tough with these proposals. I say this because there is so much out there, so much even I don't fully understand, that I want my students to walk away from my class saying "Man, was that class hard, but I learned so much and had a blast doing it."

Naive, perhaps, but that is the outcome I desire for all of my classes from now on. I will take no prisoners. They are going to put on their thinking caps and bust some blood vessels trying to make some new knowledge and meaning. What got me started on my new quest, of course, was my reading of the news and every online magazine I could get my fingers clicking to this morning. I want to sleep in, but the sun is up, and the birds are slamming into my bedroom window, and well, I'm awake at that point.

Did you know there was a transit of Venus sometime today? I no longer own a telescope, but I am still fascinated with astronomy. A transit is when Venus passes in front of the sun, leaving essentially a pencil dot on the surface to the telescoped eye. At the same time, the light from the sun passes though Venus revealing all sorts of magical things about the planet! I want to see that! And what about the Science Fair in New York, the 2012 Laureates (The Kavli Prize) and the seven scientists who are awarded a million dollars for their work in their fields! What did they discover? What will the discovery change? I am so interested. Is there something wrong with me for wanting more knowledge?

Even the performances for Queen Elizabeth II at the Diamond Jubilee, and the ceremonial National Beacon sound so interesting to me. What is the Beacon? Why is it so important? How old is that Queen anyway? She inspires complete loyalty, still, to this day. Craziness.

I could go on about Syrians not accepting the UN Truce or how a "pot smoking woman drove off with baby on the roof of the car", but my point is that there is so much information out there to just soak up. You don't even have to look that hard. Maybe I just want too much for our future generations. I want them to be thinkers and movers and active participants in a society that is willing to just sit by and wait for things to happen. I want there to be a new generation of Ghandi, ML King Jr, JFK, Eisenhower, DuBois, Lincoln and so forth. I want my students to know that they can make a difference. I want them to get fired up! Space is not the final frontier!