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by Jonelle Foltz
In the middle of peer review, a group of my students began gesturing and excitedly talking in hushed tones. They were nearest the windows. It was my second-to-last class of the day, in what felt like an over-heated sauna, and I was exhausted.
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by Jonelle Foltz
Almost immediately after the silvers, blacks and golds of the celebratory artifacts of New Year were put into the clearance aisle of stores, the pinks and reds of Valentine’s Day made their appearance.
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by Jonelle Foltz
“There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.” As I reread the initial lines of Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre,” a feeling of familiarity came over me, a surge of memory.
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by Jonelle Foltz
At 24 weeks, a baby is the size of a cantaloupe and weighs just over one pound. The baby’s face is almost fully formed, and your baby can hear your voice. That’s right. At 24 weeks, your baby can distinguish between different voices and sounds.
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by Jonelle Foltz
With each start of the semester, it seems that I get some variation prior to the start of classes on the question of whether, in a literature class, we’ll actually need all of the books listed in the bookstore. It’s a question that raises much anger because it’s an answer that seems pretty straightforward. In a literature course, we read texts. In my syllabus, I’ve had to begin including a clause: “This is a reading-intensive course. Students are expected to read ‘X’ number of pages per class period.”
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by Jonelle Foltz
As the new year rings in, we turn our thoughts to what it will bring. Will 2019 be different from 2018 or will it bring more of the same? The problem with that kind of questioning is the lack of agency involved. We, as individuals, make change, not the year itself. We start off with resolutions for change, and it’s up to us to make them happen. Is it any wonder, then, that for Catholics, our new year begins each year with the Epiphany? Epiphany means revelation. As the Christmas season comes to a close, we celebrate the three revelations of Jesus as the son of God to the world: the visit of the three magi to the baby Jesus, his baptism and the wedding at Cana. We begin each new year with a reminder of Jesus as a source of renewal, or, as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote in The Spirit of the Liturgy, “the dawning of the new light, the true sun of history.”
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by Jonelle Foltz
“Am I not alone,” asks the Creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, “miserably alone?” The lines echo throughout the novel, with varying characters lamenting their solitary existence and the need for community, or, at the very least, a friend.
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by Jonelle Foltz
Vanity. TSA lines and delays. Addiction. Rehab. When we think or hear of any of these things, we generally associate them with negative connotations.
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by Jonelle Foltz
We’ve been practicing the command of “wait” in my household. Sitting expectantly, my puppy looks attentively – for about five seconds. Then her eyes start to wander.
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by Jonelle Foltz
“It’s that time of year again.” Accompanying the text from my dad were pictures of the house decorated for Christmas. Snowy landscapes, creche with nativity scene, garlanded windows and beautifully decorated trees.
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by Jonelle Foltz
The week before Thanksgiving, I learned of a friend’s passing. Usually, I immediately disregard the campus-wide e-mails, but for some reason, I clicked on this one. As it opened, it told the story not of death, but of life: of a life marked by strength and determination, but – above all – optimism.
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by Jonelle Foltz
As the fall semester nears its end, my students working on their rebranding projects have begun their media campaigns in earnest. This semester, more than any other, I’ve been surprised with the level of enthusiasm and effort put into the projects.
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by Jonelle Foltz
October has flown by. Midway through the month, I looked at my calendar and panicked when I saw how close we were to Halloween. Two nights before a friend’s Halloween party, my husband asked if we still intended to go. “But we have no costumes,” he responded. We grabbed witch hats at Target and went as “Witchy Witchers.”
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by Jonelle Foltz
We brought home a new puppy recently, bringing an equal ratio of canines to humans. Life is never dull in our small household. It was a somewhat unexpected decision. But as with most things in life, when you know, you just know. These past six months have been something of a roller coaster. Continually, it seems, I’ve been reminded of the meaning of commitment. Commitment to my husband, my job, my family, my friends. The first two definitions listed for “commitment” at first seem contradictory. “The state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.,” reads the initial entry. Directly below: “an engagement or obligation that restricts freedom of action.” Reading those definitions initially, I sided with the second one. Yes, I told myself after a particularly difficult emotional time in my marriage, this commitment has certainly restricted my own freedom.
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by Jonelle Foltz
Each day my inbox is filled either with junk or with messages that need responses. Now that my university uses Outlook, the “clutter” feature attempts to sort out what is necessary. Often, the accuracy surprises me, but sometimes key e-mails or newsletters slip through and end up where they don’t belong. One such e-mail was my university’s weekly newsletter, which includes a “jolt” for the day, taken from Bustedhalo. “This is important,” said Pope Francis, “to get to know people, listen, expand the circle of ideas. The world is criss-crossed by roads that come closer together and move apart, but the important thing is that they lead toward God.”
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by Jonelle Foltz
Autumn is upon us. We may not know it in the weather, but the flavors of pumpkin, spices and apples are everywhere. It’s something that my husband brings up each time we grocery shop: pumpkin spice everything. We even found pumpkin spice dental bones for dogs.
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by Jonelle Foltz
At what age would you want to die? I was somewhat startled to hear that question as the opening pitch for a student-led discussion. But as the answers rolled in, I was surprised to hear numbers in the 90s and even 100s. As for me, it was a question I had never seriously considered, certainly not as long as my students. How long, I asked myself, is too long?
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by Jonelle Foltz
The problem with older homes is a lack of space. When we were first looking into rental homes, space was the one recurring issue: closets that were too small; lack of pantry; tiny cabinets and little counterspace in the kitchen. We moved into the place that was the lesser of these evils, but the problem remains.
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by Jonelle Foltz
Lord, to whom shall we go?” Peter responds with honest affirmation, firmly resolving to remain with Jesus because of his belief. The crowds dispersed, finding it hard to believe that Jesus was the means to eternal life. But the 12 remained: “To whom shall we go?” (John 6:68).
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by Jonelle Foltz
Quizzical looks and bemused expressions stared back at me from my juniors and seniors on the first day of class as I gave the overview. It’s a business and professional writing course, housed in the English Department. And I’ve just told them that they’ll be working in teams all semester on a project of their choice to rebrand a base or supposedly trivial topic.
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