Didn’t end up going into the physical manifestation of RC today (well, Friday; what even is time), but DID successfully make it to my fellow batchling Jeff’s intro CS class, which I was super excited about.

It elicited a kind of impostor syndrome I haven’t had in weeks (e.g. “I’M NOT A REAL PROGRAMMER! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE COOL ENOUGH TO TALK TO THESE KIDS”), but it was a real treat to be around people who were ready to just dive in and try things out with Scratch (which, it turns out, is super entertaining). Jeff’s students are opinionated, they ask good questions, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they make this year. All of us Recursers commented on how professional the kids were, too (there was a fire alarm, and all the kids filed down the stairs quietly, staying to the right, while the RCers had a hard time shutting their traps).

It was also kinda wild to see a different part of New York, way up at the northern terminus of the A line. The streets seem wider, the buildings are different, the businesses are different, and the school was super toasty (no air conditioning). Did I do a lot of reflection on privilege and socioeconomic stratification? You bet I did. I know what an immense privilege and opportunity it is to be able to move 3000 miles away, for three whole months, living in one of the most expensive cities in the country, but this drove it home in a whole new way.

Made me want to finally see what I need to do to volunteer with a local school back home, once we return to Portland, too.