I really didn’t want to leave my office in Kerckhoff. Class at 5 pm simply felt like punishment for slacking off last quarter. As if the late start time for class wasn’t bad enough, Chicana/o Studies 178 – Latinas and Latinos and the Law, is held on the other side of campus in Public Policy. As an undergrad I wouldn’t have grumbled about walking from the center of campus to the north end, but when all my classes are located in one building, Moore Hall, having to leave the Moore-Kerckhoff-Ackerman-Student Activities Center (to see el Venado) vicinity doesn’t sit right with me.
Up until 4:45 pm I was on my first of four conference calls this week. Since the meeting ended too late, I had no chance to exploit my laziness and drive my car to Lot 3, much closer to Public Policy. So, I walked.
I arrived to the class room exactly at 6. Two students I know well, Marisela and Daniela, greeted me a bit surprised yet happy, “Cindy!” I would have sat next to them, but the seats around them were taken. I found one toward the back and took a seat.
The young, very handsome man with dark gray slacks and diagonally striped shirt wasn’t a TA. There was something obvious about the fact that Prof R was a new hire. He spoke too softly. His jokes fell flat and he tried hard to make connections with his first set of students. I observed him and his body language. He never stood up straight. He smiled a lot. I scribbled my obersvations, which became a list for reasons to not drop the class. I felt myself develop a mini-crush in record time.
Prof R went over his academic background: undergrad at UCLA; law school at Boalt Hall (Berkeley); and a PhD at UCLA. Then the students launched into their introductions. Almost all were Chicana/o Studies and some other social science and humanities major. Most also cited an interest in law as a profession as one of the reasons for taking the course. As far as I know, I was the only “academic” graduate student in the class, but there were also two 3L’s and two MSW students. As students introduced themselves, he followed up with questions or certain connections to his own research interests or biographic information. After a student from Boyle Heights introduced herself, he mentioned he was born at White Memorial. A half Chinese and Mexican 3L said taking the Latinos and the Law course would help her learn more about her other half. Prof R said, “My mom is Chinese and my dad is Mexican.” When a philosophy major from Compton introduced herself, he added that he and his new fiancee hoped to live in Compton. Damn, my crush vanished in record time. One of the last students to introduce herself said she was from West Covina. Prof R said he was raised in Hacienda Heights.
Dude! That’s my hometown. I was born in East LA too, well Monterey Park which is like 3 centimeters east of East Los. I’m not half Chinese, but I get confused for Asian all the time.
I may have not had a crush on Prof R anymore, but I had a new affinity… the Hacienda Heights connection. Seriously, when I meet people from HH outside of HH — especially Raza — it’s almost as if we become instant best friends. When I got to UCLA eight years ago only one of my new friends knew of HH, and that was because she lived in La Puente, a city just north of HH.
Well, if it had been me, I would have just skipped the Chicano Studies class, those class are a big waste of time IMHO, and having to walk so far only makes it that much worse.
I kid, I kid (sort of, well, not really)…
But having a professor that wants to live in Compton, now that’s cool. You shouldn’t be so hard on him, give Compton a few more years and it will start to look a lot like East LA. Five or so years ago we cracked the 50% mark, and to think that when I moved in in the late 80′s, I was only one of a couple Mexican families on the whole block. How times have changed.
college crushes. . oh yeah, those are born and die within seconds!
Sounds like a cool professor. . i know the “connection” feeling you mean, same here, when someone’s from my hood. . we’re instant buddies!
It’s almost like meeting long last family que no?
What did Prof. R. say when you introduced yourself? And, just in case, my sister is a law prof. (her husband from East LA, she went to Penn Law before they met when he was doing his grad. work @ Temple) if you need any help from her, just holler.
HP,
How can calling a class a “big waste of time” be considered a humble opinion? Also, if you really think that learning about the legal cases that have most affected our community is a waste of time, then I think I’d re-examine my consideration of what I consider worthwhile.
I wasn’t being hard on the professor. You should know better than everyone else that I have an affinity for Chicana/o Studies professors.
CAD,
At least my reason for keeping the class isn’t “the prof’s cute!”
Gustavo,
Sorta. HH isn’t too small, but there is something unique and special about it.
Frances,
I didn’t mention that I was from Hacienda Heights, but did say that I was a grad student in education interested in policy issues which are directly tied to legal studies. He mentioned that he was on a doctoral dissertation committee for an education student. I thought that was pretty cool.
Thanks for offering any help. I’ll let you know if I need it.
I think HP probably said “don’t be hard on him” because HP’s still learning how to read and probably thought you dropped your crush ’cause he’s moving to Compton rather than because he has a fiancee.
Can you do me a favor … ask him if his parents met in Mexico or up here. Just givin’ you an excuse to talk to him.
How come when I listen to EMC’s podcast show it doesn’t show up on my last.fm?
Ha! If we based on dropping a class due to the looks of the teacher, believe me, I would have about 9 hours credit right now!
hi cindy…this the first time that I have the opportunity to read your amazing blog. I am glad that you are taking the CCS course. I took it with Laura Gomez and it was amazing. That same course is being taught by Saul Sarabia at the law school this semester and the syllabus is incredible. The law…it turns you pretty cynical after a semester of courses…
Hey cindylu!
i’m back in LA yay, i hope to see you soon! professor R. is really cool, i think so at least….at the end of the summer when the department had their tardeada thingy, i went, and he was one of the only professors who was talking to us, aside from Profe M. i met his fiance, she’s really nice. I really wanted to take his class, but it was full by the time i wanted to sign up..oh well, i still got some time left here, so i’m sure i’ll be able to take another class with him…have fun!
Wow, that Prof got added and dropped from the 31 Flavors list in the span of one class! Is that a record?
It’s not the legal cases that make the classes a waste of time; it’s all of the other stuff they teach and instill into the students that makes them a waste of time, and yes, humbly, because if I wasn’t trying to be humble, I’d use very different language to describe them.
Btw, Oso is right, my reading skills suck, I didn’t even pick up on the fiancée part until I re-read your post. Damn public schools, they continue to haunt me so many years later…