If there is one thing about the job (by which I mean academia in general), I don't particularly like it would be the marking and grading. It is time consuming, has some highs but a lot of lows, takes a lot of time for little reward...and, it is hard.
It is hard sometimes to determine the difference between A & B, D & E. Students who do well during the semester fall over the line at the last minute; others who struggle all year, get it together at the end.
It can be stark. It can be subtle. Today was a day of juggling final grade submissions with student interviews for overseas placement, with ongoing arrangements for a symposium next week, for a final meeting at the end of the day for confirmation of the aforementioned placements.
Then it was back to the office for the evening to finish up.
At least now it is finished and now there are two papers to prepare, commentaries to complete, submissions to make, conferences to plan...
A sparkly yet darkly day to start |
Ripples and wake |
Subtle clouds 1 |
Subtle clouds 2 (with plane) |
Starker clouds towards the end of the day |
Today, if I looked closely enough, the horizon was out there, beyond the clouds. Subtle. It was a day of subtle differences.
But it is done.
[Camera : Lumix TZ-85, 9.30am, 12.17pm-12.27pm, 4.02pm; 8 February 2017]