Attendance

I stop at the top of the stairs and look around. I am looking for the door marked "301" and almost walk right past it. I slowly push the half opened door all the way, and an unexpected bang sound fills the room as it bumps the chair hiding behind it. The space is somewhat dim, only half of the institutional lighting fixtures are glowing. There are already four people in the room in a sort of north, south, east and west formation, claiming their stake away from the front and the middle. I stop for a moment and scan my options, similar to picking seats on an airline, "Do I want to be near the door or near the window?" I decide to choose a lovely double red desk about three rows from the front, on the left side of the room, the door side. I realize at that moment that I always prefer the left side of the room, but the right side of the desk, (maybe it has something with being a lefty...). All I know is that it has been a very long time since I was in a classroom, starting a new course, and that I was just excited to be there.

I take off my coat and sit in the rounded plastic chair. I open my bag and take out the hanukah gift from my wife and son; a three ring binder, filled with lined paper, graph paper, and a few file folders. The room is starting to fill up now, one after another of people entering the classroom, for some its commonplace, and for some its been a long absent, I fall into the latter. The teacher motions towards the front of the room as he is ready to start the course. I open my binder to the first piece of lined paper, and start to take notes.