Instructors bond grading papers and singing karaoke

By Rory Linnane

A notebook filled with instructor quotes from the summer sits in Rachel Stults’ bag. At the end of the summer, she will e-mail the contents to other instructors and make sure no cherubs see it.

Throughout the summer, Stults writes down anything amusing an instructor says.

Instructors Mary Lou Song and Victor Chi edit cherub papers together in the reading room of Fisk Hall in 2006.

“I have a notebook on me at all times, like any good reporter would,” Stults said. “It’s just a way of recording our time together and all the nights that we spent laughing and blowing off some steam.”

When cherub papers pour in and instructors have hours of grading, she breaks out the notebook.

“Every time we need a good laugh, we read it,” instructor Mary Lou Song said. “It’s a sure-fire pick-me-up.”

The quote book is just one of the traditions cherub instructors have created to have their own fun over the summer. Whenever instructors have a lot to grade, many meet in the reading room of Fisk Hall, or at The Globe Café and Den at the Hotel Orrington to keep each other company.

“You know how cherubs like being together?” Song said. “Instructors like being together, too.”

Stults estimated the longest time they have spent at The Globe to be six to eight hours.

“We sit there all day and all night,” she said. “Sometimes we leave for dinner and come back. It’s sort of like our living room.”

It is instructor Jesse Abrams-Morley’s favorite tradition.

“Occasionally you get the story that makes absolutely no sense,” he said. “It’s fun to share it with others so they can feel your pain.”

Every now and then, the instructors take off for the Hidden Cove in Chicago for a night of karaoke. Stults has sung such songs as “You Give Love a Bad Name,” “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and country songs.

“I’m from Nashville,” she said. “And I like to celebrate my honky tonk roots.”

She said she is impressed by the group’s talent.

“David has a surprisingly good voice, and Victor can really hit those high notes,” she said. “I’m not very good, but I like to do it anyway.”

They also devote one summer night to Fogo de Chão, a Brazilian restaurant in Chicago. During the summer of 2003, instructors had a competition to find the best restaurant.

“There were theatrical performances, dances, PowerPoints,” Stults said. “But Victor pushed the unlimited food option at Fogo de Chão and from there the votes started coming in.”

They have eaten there almost every year since.