Day Three and New Games

Doing well. . . . was successful in going to the gym last night, getting 8 hours of sleep (ok, it was more like 7.5), limiting myself to 1 Diet Coke, and sticking to more of a schedule. All is good. Am I bouncing off the walls? Not yet. I think the thing that I like that I am doing is making a deliberate effort to make exercise a part of my routine. Something that is a part of my day from its very beginning rather than an add-on because I have free time or nothing better to do. Back when I was training for my marathons, it worked that way too. . . mostly due to the "fear" and the need to train now or pay for it later. But without a marathon goal looming over my head, exercise has taken a back seat. And I am not too happy with that.

But the biggest joy of the day was my class that I teach at Ithaca College: New Games. For the past eight weeks I have been going over to IC (the other college in Ithaca, also made famous from the movie "Road Trip") to teach a class in the department and therapeutic and recreation education. Not a bad gig considering that most of the two classes each week consist of playing games and teaching the students the best way to lead games. And the class only lasts for half the semester.

I have taught the class for three semesters, and this semester has by far been the most rewarding for me as an educator, and I think the students too. 26 of them in all. No major attendance issues this year (like in semesters past) and kids with a great amount of enthusiasm and joy for just being silly and having a good time. The class even gave me a nickname this semester: the funmiester. And they would use it.

Anyhow. . . today was the last class session. And as in semesters past, at the last class we invite as many children as we can to play with us. So today we had 12 kids (most of which are home schooled) come to the gym at Ithaca College. The cool part was that not only did we have an adorable new group of little ones to play with, but also the students took ownership in introducing and leading the games that we played. And to see all of this in action was amazing. The kids loved the experience. The students loved the experience. The parents were impressed and appreciative of the opportunity. I was humbled to know that everyone was having so much fun. I was excited to see how much everyone was getting out of a simple hour's worth of games in a college gymnasium.

There is something powerful about seeing a child laugh. There is something even more powerful about seeing a college student get jazzed over that laughter too. I needed those moments in my life today. As I complain and question about the impact that I have at Cornell and with the students with whom I work, it is a moment like the one I had earlier today when I think, "yeah, this is what it is all about. This is what I live for." And I am amazed by the simplicity of everything: Laughter.

At the end of the class, I had several students come up to me and thank me for "the best class" that they have had at IC. How much they learned and how much fun it was. They wished that the class would continue on for the entire semester. They called me "funmiester" one last time; they even gave me a round of applause. It feels good to be appreciated. To feel validated. But it feels even better to know that the students will look back on this class, and especially this day, to remember the laughter and the joy that can be had when people come together in the spirit of play.