There For Him

Leila

I felt a little giddy. I loved the first day. The looks on the faces of most of my students told me they didn’t share that excitement. Most of them looked like they would rather be anywhere but in front of me. I was sure half of them were asleep with their eyes open.

I already missed Christopher. He had been such a joy to have in class. He was the ideal student for a professor to have. I loved how engaged he had been and how he had been able to actually have a conversation about the subject matter. I missed him.

I glanced down at my watch and cringed. I had done it again. There was so much I wanted to get out and it just never seemed to fit into my class time. No matter how many times I tweaked the first lecture, I was always running short on time. I could talk for hours.

“Thank you everyone,” I said clapping my hands together. “Some advice that I know past students would pass on to you is read the syllabus. Pay attention. Read. The. Material.”

I didn’t feel like they were liste