Emily Levin

So, my first blog.  This seems exciting. 

    Its the start of a new semester here at UMass Boston and students and teachers alike are bunkering down for the tough semester ahead.  The work load looks heavy but manageable so far.  I’m really looking forward to my Intro to Archaeology and Intro to Microeconomics classes.  The teachers both seem equally as enthusiastic and sarcastic as I am (which is always a good match).  The class I am most looking forward to, however, is my English 102 class. 

    I instantly got excited for this class when I heard the book list.  Watchmen by Allen Moore, which I’ve already read; Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, whom I love; and The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, which friends of mine have read and loved.  So I was pumped about the class right off the bat.  Then I actually went to the class and found that I know a couple of people in the class, which is always good.  This is when the teacher walked in.  He was wearing a patterned blazer and a Where The Wild Things Are t-shirt.  You may not see why this is so amazing, so I’ll explain it.

    The way a teacher dresses is incredibly important.  Especially on the first day of class.  When a teacher dresses completely casual, they are presenting themselves as an equal.  The kids might not realize it conciously, but there is definitely a lower level of respect for these teachers.  When a teacher dresses formally, the students can tell that this teacher means business.  They take their subject seriously, they take themselves seriously, and therefore the students must as well.

    But there is something to be said about the middle ground.  The teacher that dresses dressy casual, with touches of their own personality.  By this professor’s attire alone, I could tell that he had good taste in movie/themes, and therefore in books as well.  Not to mention, I already knew what books we would be reading.  The blazer was really the thing that told the outside world that he was still the boss of the classroom.  Without it, he would’ve fit in with any one of the students, but with it he was superior.  I can tell from his outfit that he took himself seriously, and he took literature seriously, but he didn’t take anything TOO seriously.  And if that is too hard to understand, then I’m sorry, but I did the best I can.

This is definitely my ideal type of teacher. Logo Ts, blazers, random tidbit stories, and all.