Yesterday I took the day off work to go back to my college to sit in on two sessions of Gender in Children's Literature. I felt old. Taught by one of my favorite college professors, the class was more geared toward kid lit from the late 1800s and early 1900s, but I was there to talk about where children's lit stands now in terms of gender representations. (And for the record, I was there as a representative of myself, not as a publishing professional or someone speaking on behalf of my company.)

Sometimes I think I was much smarter in my college days than I am now, but really it's just that I've lost that academic language that permeated that time of my life. (It's likely been replaced by corporate jargon. Sorry.) There's a particular vernacular that college classrooms, especially those that study intersectionalities among race, gender, ethnicity, ability, etc, use that tends to fade if left dormant for too long. Which, since I don't tend to talk academically about gender the ways that I used to, is definitely the case for me.

Alas, my former professor asked some illuminating questions (as always) and, though I stumbled a bit, I hope I represented my points well. College students are that fantastic mix of unexpected interest and sleepy boredom, and sitting in a circle with them, talking about books and gender, was refreshing for sure.

And! I got to hang with two dear friends for a bit, and even had some time for revisions (um, because I was sitting in the campus library, unable to figure out the guest wifi login, but I can't complain. My friend eventually solved it.). All in all, a successful day.