Personal Space
It’s Wednesday evening and I am at University of San Diego waiting for my class in Advanced Corporate Finance to begin in about 90 minutes. As those who know me understand, I rarely get anywhere late and I almost always err on being 15-30 minutes early. While that is not necessarily a good thing for hostesses throwing a party and putting finishing touches in place, mostly its a good thing that means I am less rushed and more calm at the start of whatever it is I am starting. I find it an especially valuable trait for running my classes since I often have a guest lecturer (in person or via Zoom) and there is always a series of tech-based steps that have to be walked through to get everything up and running properly. Getting there early has been a thing with me for a long time, so it is nothing new. Back in the good old days of my early career, I used to get up at 3:50am (yes, you read that right) and catch the 5:14 train into Penn Station so that I was at my desk on Park Avenue at 6am. I did that for thirteen years and very rarely missed that 5:14 train. My wife at that time did not want me to tell anyone what time I got up since she found it strange and was certain others would also find it strange. The truth is that it was strange, but at the time it felt like the approach to NYC commuting that made the most sense to me. I do not like crowds, especially on moving vehicles. I guess you might say that I want no invasion of my personal space if I can help it.
Part of the protocol of getting somewhere early is that you have to be prepared to figure out where you will spend your time waiting for the appointed time of arrival. You cannot place that burden on your hosts and really must fend for yourself in that regard. If you are driving to the venue, there is always the last resort that you can sit in your car and wait and while that is always a comfortable option that affords you lots of flexibility (you can go get something to drink, you can drive around, you can take a nap or you can just sit and listen to the radio or an audiobook). I am currently listening to the audiobook of the book I recently co-authored with my friend Frank O’Connell (CEO of a number of companies), titled Jump First, Think Fast. I spent almost five years rewriting this book four times (taking it from 430 pages down to 265 pages) and it is a real kick to listen to a professional voice-over person read your words (ones that you know almost by heart) back to you. In theory, I could be listening to that book even now with my EarPods in, but I tend to prefer listening while driving and I’m in no rush to finish the book…I kinda know how it ends.
I come to the school early on Tuesday and Wednesday nights so that I can get a good parking spot (the changeover from day to evening shift logically occurs between 4-5pm), get some dinner at the Business School Cafe, and then generally get my class game face on. Occasionally, I meet with students since this qualifies as Office Hours, which the school requires of teaching professors. This semester is quite convenient for me on all counts. I have discovered nearby parking that is almost always available. I find the Cafe adequate for a light supper before class. The two classrooms I am assigned are located on an open courtyard and I can, in good weather, sit outside and enjoy the ends of the day while I wait for class time. On winter days like today, I have my choice of several places to sit and work or just relax. Last semester I was in the Learning Annex, which was a busy place and it was more an undergraduate spot where high-top tables and counters (like at an airport) or low soft seating (like up and down the wide stairs) were the order of the day. Over here in the new business school buildings there are several proper lounges and a raft of private spaces set into what I would call concentration spaces. The finance area has a space where they have their offices and students within that specialty have some open seating around that. The same is true for the other disciplines. At this hour of the day, none of it is overcrowded so I really do have my choice.
Back in my college days, studying was most often done in the big libraries where they has study rooms with multiple open tables both small and large as well as what they called carrels. I guess graduate students could get a carrel assigned to them so they could keep certain reference books on one or two shelves at eye level, but mostly, these carrels were for same day use by undergraduates and they were simply desks with a modicum of privacy for quiet reflection.
Here at USD Knauss School of Business, the new set up has an area that is adjacent to the Cafe that has about twenty carrels of a modern sort. Actually, they are a cross between a carrel and a cubicle. I say that because they have a carrel-sized desk with a partition (solid on the bottom and frosted plexiglass on top) that modularly wraps around 75% of the unit. That desk has no bookshelves (remind me what books are, again?), but it does have a desktop computer appliance that would allow students or errant faculty like me to check their email and do work. It feels a little like the new lie-flat seats in business class flights where you have your own self-contained world to entertain yourself and be comfortable in your own personal space for the duration of your flight or waiting time. Like on the planes, this cubby is small enough to feel cozy and private, but large enough to be comfortable and functional. For me, the top of the frosted barrier is more or less at eye-level so you can concentrate on your work and feel private or you can gaze around and check out the scene as needed. I think the whole affair has a footprint of 4’x7’ or so, which makes it more cozy than expansive. I don’t use the desktop since I prefer my iPad, but otherwise I find it a very useful waiting tool that makes coming early very easy for me. I can even use it as my own private dining room if I want, though I generally eat out in the open and then retire to the comfort of my cubby study.
It is very quiet here at this time of day, so other than the clacking of my own iPad keys and the distant rattling of the pots and pans in the inner kitchen that serves the Cafe and is obviously closing up shop for the night, there is no other sound. When a student happens past that knows another student there is a quick stop and chat and I get to check to see who knows who. That sounds intrusive, but the reality is that I know a good number of these midweek evening students since they were either in my classes last year or they are in my classes this year. I don’t know a damn soul on the faculty or the administration of this school (except my virtual relationship with my Department Chairs, who I have yet to meet in person), but I am quite familiar with a decent segment of the student population and, of course, the Cafe staff, who know me as a twice per week customer.
My class starts in forty-five minutes, so I will shift over to my classroom now and get set up, leaving me some socialization time with the early arriving students. For this course, after tonight I only have one more real lecture class in two week (Thanksgiving interceding next week) and then the wrap-up class when we go over the take-home final exam and say our farewells. I feel very comfortable this semester in this school even if I am a bit of a transient minstrel singing for my supper twice a week and moving on in a few more weeks. In the mean time, I will keep to my small personal space here in this cubby and when I leave, the dogs will bark and the caravan will roll on into the night.