Hell of a Month

The picture above says it all when it comes to the month of October in the fall semester every year.  Are you going through what I have been through this past month and perhaps the reason Halloween is a fitting end to an always scary month that is October?  It seems as though the semester gets off to a slow start in August, then kind of gathers speed in September and then ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE in October!  Students have more problems in this month, there are more meetings in this month, there are recruiters coming to campus to get December grads, we are doing community service projects through class and our dozens of student associations, and guest lecturers, and grad students trying to decide upon a research project (I remember that nightmare long ago), and on and on and on..........

Don't get me wrong, I love the heat of the battle but it seems as though there is no rest for the wicked right through to Halloween despite my best efforts to do so.  But this October it was different.  I took a train ride this morning from Grand Central Station to Poughkeepsie which runs on the east side of the Hudson fall on a sunny day during peak fall colors!  It was gorgeous train ride and my troubles soon melted away on my way to making my first visit to the Hyde Park campus of the Culinary Institute of America.  And after spending a day at the CIA in sessions, touring the campus, talking with faculty and adminstrators, and observing students I understand now why they call it Hogwarts on the Hudson  -- I was sure I was going to run into Chef Potter carrying a magic whisk around the next corner!

I am hoping FELC members and blog followers will get a clean break from the craziness that seems to happen in October because the end now draws near.  Most will now start looking forward to Thanksgiving, which means there are but 3 weeks left after that holiday; the meetings will be fewer and farther between, the students will see the finish line and catch a second wind to carry them the rest of the way, and more!  So grab a pumpkin donut and pour yourself your favorite cider recipe and welcome the end of the month and ultimately another end to a productive fall semester.