This morning, I walked past a class meeting outside under a beautiful oak tree. The students sat on the green grass. Two professors (obvious tree experts) passionately instructed their students about some kind of tree issue. The students sipped coffee and took notes in their notebooks. They listened to one professor as he walked around the tree with his hand on the trunk. The morning felt cool and crisp, and I suddenly wanted to sit there with all those students, learning about trees. What a mystery learning is! What joy that our brains learn! And how diverse our passions: Some of us gather ’round oak trees; some of us labor over weak verbs; some of us peer into the microscope. I love the college campus, at least at Penn State, where every class feels like marveling to me.
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