Meta

At some point in high school (possibly freshman English) a teacher emphasized the meaning of the word "metacognition." Maybe it was supposed to be on a test later, but I wrote it on my notebook and committed it to memory. So much so that 15 years later, I can tell you her definition: "thinking about thinking."

I remembered it again last week when my boss asked me to write a memo summarizing the memos I've written for him this summer requesting funding for various projects, equipment, and collections. I'm calling it the meta memo.

As if that wasn't bad enough, he came in this morning and asked for a verbal summary of the important points of one item. Still worse, this means that, with 4 weeks left before the start of fall classes, all of the major projects I hoped to accomplish this summer haven't even been considered, let alone approved.

And yet, when the latest group accreditors come next week, I'm told it's a great time to show my enthusiasm for the library and the work I'm doing.

It could be a long August.