The Final Final

This week is final examination week at the university, and this afternoon I gave my final final of the week. I'll grade the exams tomorrow and be ready to enter grades for the semester by Friday, and then my first semester as an assistant professor (remember?) will have come to a close. It was a lot of work! I had to get used to the rhythms of the department and my position within it: what events happen at what point in the semester and what I have to have done by what deadlines in order to be ready for those events; how long certain projects take in each course and how to plan the course schedules accordingly; etc. It was a productive term, both for my students and for me. I'm ready for a little break, though (although, with all the traveling that we'll be doing for Christmas, will it feel like a break?).