I Do Love a Themed Snack!

Posted October 30, 2015 by Katie Caskey

I am currently waist-deep in my classwork for the semester and starting to feel the toll of the impending final projects, presentations, and papers, not to mention the weekly coursework I still need to stay on top of. But, thankfully, I was recently treated to a wonderful surprise that brightened my week and reminded me again why I love this school, this program, and my fellow students.

One of the classes I am taking is entitled Victorian Literature, in which we are focusing particular attention on the subgenre of school stories. Well, as any lit. major knows, it is almost impossible to escape a Victorian literature class without encountering the infamous Alice and her adventures in Wonderland. Now, it’s time for a confession…I’ve never read either of the Alice books before this year. I’ve seen the Disney movie a couple dozen times, sure, but I entered this class and this book with fresh eyes. Well, Mr. Carroll did not disappoint. The whimsical characters, bright poetry, and charming word pictures were a welcome change from the drawing room and school room novels we had read up to this point (my apologies to my professor and her passionate love for novelist Charlotte Mary Yonge, but I occasionally need a bit of imagination in my reading).

But what was this wonderful surprise I mentioned at the beginning? Well, upon entering the classroom on the day we were scheduled to discuss Alice, I discovered one of my lovely classmates had made the entire class miniature apple and pumpkin pies, each baked in individual glass jars that were labeled with a sticker instructing us to “Eat Me” (Did I mention we got to eat them with miniature forks? Cue the awwws!). And beside our pies was a glass of punch for each of us that read “Drink Me”.

Well, what a delicious class that was! But even more than that, what a needed reminder of just how passionate my fellow students are about this world of children’s literature. It is such a blessing to step into a classroom with these brilliant people and geek out about beautiful stories together for three hours each week! I wouldn’t trade it for the world (although I wouldn’t mind trading in one or two of those papers I see on the horizon).