- A student who wants to teach ESL;
- A student who informed the class she is homeless;
- A student who told me they use they/them pronouns and wanted me to know they are outspoken because they are tired of keeping it all in like they had to do in high school;
- A student who wants to write a memoir about the abusive Muslim boarding school for girls–more like a finishing school–she was forced to attend and who is trying to figure out how not to disavow the term feminist;
- A student who was honest enough with himself to figure out that he was asking me how seriously I take grammar when I grade because he was really trying to talk me out of taking it seriously when I grade his papers;
- A student who spent 20 minutes talking me through the story he wants to write about a member of a new Dungeons & Dragons race called the Reborn;
- A student who wants to write “realistic fiction,” but seems more interested in fantasy and romance;
- A student who shook my hand and thanked me for the emphasis I put on professionalism as the base line expectation for how I want my students to handle the requirements of the syllabus;
- A student who wants to be a professional rapper, who shyly asked how to spell the names of musicians he hadn’t heard of when I asked the class what kind of music they listened to. These are the ones I remember: Jim Croce; Simon & Garfunkel; Yes; Emerson, Lake & Palmer.