The First Day (You freshmen will learn...)

I've started a grand total of 5 semesters at Hope, 4 of which I've successfully (debatably) completed thus far. The first day of class my freshman year, I was prepared. I brought my notebook, every color pen possible, my computer, highlighters, class schedule, planner, and textbook. I read the first chapter of the book the night before, and took about an hour and a half getting ready for class in the morning. Since then, it's all gone downhill. The first day of class this year, I had stayed up half the night hanging out with friends, I was too lazy for makeup or a shower, and hadn't yet bought the textbook. It took me multiple weeks to cave in and buy the textbooks for a couple of my classes (shh I still haven't for some of them...) Fact is, I've learned. The first day never matters. It's the same thing every time:

Hi class, I'm Dr. _____, this is _____ (hope you're in the right classroom, ha ha ha, complimentary laugh from the students) and "Here is your syllabus." I've heard it 5 semesters * 5ish classes. I sigh. I read the syllabus. I doze in and out, and undoubtedly make a bad first impression. The thing is, I could teach the first day of class- just toss the kids the syllabus. Simple, easy, the same thing. In the same way, when we start our computers, its the exact same thing. The bootstrap program is tucked into the machine's ROM, and it does the exact same thing every single time. It's permanently recorded- kind of like the "first day of class plan." It doesn't change, and it gets the computer (or semester) up and running.