Ambivalently Yours

Syllabus Week

"Rise and shine! Sophomore year starts today!" Liz says brightly as she plops down on the edge of your bed.

You groan and pull your comforter up to your chin. "Why are you so chipper?" you ask, closing your eyes again.

Liz sighs. "Because I like school."

"Good thing you're an education major," you reply.

"Just get up, y/n. I'll pay for your Starbucks if you get up now."

That gets you moving. You gather your things and shuffle to the shower as Liz goes to her room to get ready for the day. An hour later, the two of you are in her car on the way to Starbucks.

"So what classes do you have today?" Liz asks, glancing at the clock on the dash as she pulls into the very busy drive thru line. You tried to convince her to order ahead on the app, but she insisted on waiting until you got there. You were sure she was second guessing her decision now.

"Social marketing, polisci, and speech and debate. Tomorrow is journalism and history of media," you answer.

"Ugh, polisci. Did you get—"

"Yeah, fucking DiClerico, I'm pissed. Hammond was full," you say with a sigh. "RIP to my eyeballs. So much reading."

"I still have my notes from the spring if you want them," she offers. She eases forward in the line. "You want your usual?"

"Add an extra shot of espresso. But yes to the notes," you reply.

"Got it."

After getting through the Starbucks line, you head to campus. You and Liz had gone halfsies on a parking spot in the main parking garage downtown. It cost an arm and a leg, but your permit was good for the whole year, and since you'd split the cost, it wasn't too bad. It was definitely better than having to ride the university bus to campus from your apartment complex.

Upon parking, you and Liz part ways, with a plan to meet at the car after your last class. You make your way to your first class and grab a seat in the giant lecture hall. Around you, the seats fill up, and before you know it, class is starting and you're going over the syllabus.

Class number two, political science, is a repeat of what you just went through. Discussion of the syllabus, quiz and test dates throughout the semester, and the list of reading assignments for each time class meets.

You're curious about speech and debate. From what you knew, there was very little assigned reading involved, and it was more of a think-on-your-feet kind of class. It's also small, assigned to an actual classroom instead of one of the larger lecture halls. Looking around as people file in, you count only thirty seats, and it looks like the classroom will only be half filled. You recognize a couple people from some of your intro classes from freshman year.

The professor walks in right as the class is scheduled to start. She looks very stern and serious until she smiles and introduces herself.

"Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to Speech and Debate. I'm Professor McCuskey. In an effort to save paper, I've emailed all of you a copy of the syllabus in PDF format. If you'll pull up that up for me, we'll begin."

There's a rustling of bags and backpacks as everyone pulls out tablets or laptops to pull up the file as requested. You spend the next forty-five minutes going over everything that will be expected of you in the class: a few readings here and there, small research projects, a few papers to write, and a list of possible topics for your speeches and debates throughout the class. At the end of the class, she draws a topic out of her jar for each person in the class and tells you to research it, and to be prepared to informally argue both sides with your unknown opponent for the next time class meets. You crinkle your nose at the topic you've been assigned: building golf courses - pros and cons. You couldn't think of a topic you cared less about.