Well, the sabbatical is over now. This afternoon I head to a faculty professional development workshop, the students return to campus tonight, and then spring term classes are up and running tomorrow morning.
Outsiders that I have tried to explain this "sabbatical leave" concept to seem to conclude it's a fantastic perk that is the same as a long vacation. It's not really. It's true that most of my four-month leave, I've been able to enjoy days in which my time is relatively unstructured, or at least time that I've structured the way I've wanted it. But the broader goal of a sabbatical is really to expand one's horizons. I've tried to accomplish through mostly through travelling to parts of the world I haven't seen before. Hopefully I come back to work refreshed, reivigorated, and perhaps even a better teacher and person than when I left.
