I rode my bike up and down St. Charles Avenue six times today, and it felt good to get out on the bike in spite of my cold.  On my way past Loyola and Tulane on trip number three I stopped to snap this picture of a photographer snapping that picture of the Loyola men’s basketball team.  College is in session, and although I teach and so am on campus almost every day, I forget about the rest of student life.  Yet when I was a student, and a good one at that, I spent most of my time not studying, but engaging in clandestine activities while remaining constantly embroiled in personal drama.  It was a huge privilege, to get to spend four solid years learning for the sake of it and also learning how to be myself.  The kids in this picture look serious and composed, and I’m sure they are that, but they are probably also anxious about what they’re up to tonight, the fourth Friday night of the semester.  And some of them might be worrying about midterms already, and others are homesick, missing family and friends and places where people look, think, and act like them.  Passing this team photo tonight made me feel a bit nostalgic and wish that everyone had the opportunity to experience a four year liberal arts education without worry for cost and practicality.  This is possible, but we just don’t seem to have the will.  It’s a shame.