Everyone Deserves a Chance to ... fly!

Dear All,

As I am sure most of you are also doing as of late, I just spent all weekend watching a television series on DVD (I'm watching Smallville, if anyone is interested) while preparing for midterms and reading notes for final papers. As a break, I decided to share a little anecdote, showing how much of a nerd I truly am, or about 30 first year English students perceive it anyway. It's okay though, I know I am a nerd. I've accepted it. It's the first step.

It all began (and ended -- I've taken awhile to write the story) 2 Fridays ago, when I was going to the third floor F wing to run an ENGL 1106 Exam Strategies Cram (reason #1 I seemed like the nerdiest person of life). I went to use the staircase by the theatre and there was a small group congregating on the stairwell. One girl was singing "Defying Gravity" in

the stairwell at the top of her lungs (reason #2 I am a nerd: I knew the song just by hearing it, and reason #3 that it is from Wicked, the musical - which, reason #4, I knew BEFORE it was featured in Glee, I might add). So I ascended the stairs and waited for some delightful first year students to come to the room, and once it was beginning we each went around and said our favourite book. I kind of forgot that that would mean I had to say my own. So on the spot I

decided my favourite novel is Pillars of the Earth, a basically 2000 page novel (Reason #5). Then, I stood up to close the door since the music was so loud and said "As much as I love Wicked, Idina Menzel does this better in the original anyway" (Reason #6). When they looked at me funny I said "Kristen Chenoweth? No?" (Reason # 7). Then, reason #8, before all of them had left, some volunteers came to an information meeting that I was hosting in the same room about NU Reads, a literacy program I co-created with a friend 3 years ago.

I like to think it made them feel in safe hands for talking about exams; considering I am a nerd, they hopefully trusted me to tell them how to be one for a day to write a successful exam. I have to say, most of them laughed at my nerdy comments, so at least it relieved some tension ...