I’m sitting waiting on my students to finish a scavenger hunt based around the idea of knowledge communities, and I can’t believe that in about a week my first quarter teaching at DU will be complete. It’s true what they say: quarters fly by. Last year at this time, I was meandering my way around my dissertation, job talks, and teaching portfolios, and now I’m another year older, living across the country in a state that favors the cold and sunshine instead of the warm and sunshine, and it all seems a little crazy. February is my birthday month, and normally when I think of goals for the year, I tend to think of them beginning and ending with February.
During the month of March, I’m asked to write-up a reflection over the past quarter and essentially look at what I learned and how I might go forward into the next quarter. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, about what I might say, and I’m struggling because there seems like so much has happened in a short ten week span that has really made me think about how I define myself as an instructor of writing. So, I’m going to really focus this blog on one thing I have really taken notice of and learned about this past quarter: boots. =)
DU is my fifth school, if I include my three schools for my three degrees, and the previous institutions where I have taught. Every school, I have noticed, has a theme that centers at the heart of the fashion worn by faculty and students alike. At Mount Union, it was hoodies boldly declaring the school’s name. At FSU, it was a whole lotta Vera Bradley bags. Here at DU, it’s boots. Given the weather, it’s not really that weird that students and faculty at DU wear boots, but what makes them unique is the ways in which they wear them, and the type of the boots they wear.
I have seen girls wear boots in shorts, dresses, skirts, jeans, leggings, and yoga pants. Yes, yoga pants. Apparently tall boots can be used to dress up yoga pants, and I say, heck yes! I’ve also noticed that many girls where sweat pants with Uggs, which is not necessarily that attractive of a combination. I have also seen at least one pair of thigh-high stilettos, although, heels are not on trend with the boots at DU. Another disturbing trend is the girls that wear tights as pants with boots—yes, tights, not leggings, as pants. The other day I was walking behind this girl in super cute tan combat boots with black tights. I don’t know what she was thinking or why her roommates let her walk out of her dorm room. Ladies a word to the wise: tights and leggings are NOT stand alone bottoms—your backside needs covered no matter how skinny you are.
Boots, no matter the weather that constantly likes to surprise Denver residents, are a staple here at DU. And of all the trends I have witnessed, it’s one of my favorites. There is comfort in pulling on your favorite worn-in pair of boots—it’s like talking to an old friend over steaming cup of coffee on a wintery morning. Boots can pull an outfit together and make you feel like taking on the world (or a room full of college freshmen!).
The past quarter has shown me new ways to incorporate boots into my wardrobe as well as showing me ways that boots should never be worn. All-in-all a pretty solid lesson to be learn. ;-)
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