First Week of School

You know those nightmares about school starting and you can't find you class, you sleep in, or miss the whole day entirely? Well I didn't have any of those this year! But after Wednesday night I think it would have been better to get the mortification over with in my dreams rather than in real life. My Tuesday classes went well. Actually, really, really well! I was walking on clouds the whole way home because I made friends. I wasn't feeling shy for some reason and I introduced myself to people, said hello first, and walked from one class to the next with someone. I felt brave and invincible. So I guess it was time for me to be humbled. 

Wednesday nights I have a class that is broadcast from another city to several cities throughout the state. Our distance education building is brand new so they are still working on getting all of the equipment working and synchronized. Also, the table is really high, meaning the chairs are also really high (and I have short legs, so it was awkward climbing into the seat). The regular microphone didn't work, so the four of us in the class had to pass one around the table whenever we were called on. The professor was calling roll and when she said my name I waited for someone to pass the mic to me, then when the teacher marked me absent and moved on to the next, I realized that they didn't pass it to me because they don't know my name. Duh. So I jumped up, grabbed the mic, started talking into it, and fell flat on my back. I felt like a fool, so I did what any fool does best. I laughed. The I.T. guys ran over to help me up and the professor asked what on earth was going on, even though the whole state could see me over the cameras that focus on you when you turn a microphone on. So I very clearly explained, "This is Emily Brinkerhoff. I'm here. Also, I fell off my chair. It has wheels."

This is what happened: because the chair was so tall, had wheels, and my legs are so short, it just rolled away as I thought I was planting my booty in it. So, needless to say, I avoided the mic for the rest of the night and clutched my chair for dear life.