Names

Every September, one of my favorite things to do is get ahold of my roster and learn my students' names. I love names in general and I find that I'm never disappointed- there are always a few that roll off the tongue poetically or just strike me as awesome in some indefinable way.

This year is no different. I've never met, let alone had for a student, anyone named Alida, Brumley or Arcadio before. Coincidentally, I do know an Arkady quite well (you may know him as Ari) who also hails from Brookline but whereas the latter is a Muskovite, the former is half-Cuban. Let's see- I also have both a Lex and a Lexi, a Carly and a Karli, and for the first time I'll have a student named Mac who shares my own surname of Westcott (no relation).

Runners-up for favorite full names this year include Anika Eisenstat, Lexi Granchelli, Victoria Pride and Alexandra Zappala but despite all those wonderful gems of names, I think the nod goes to Alejandro Camerieri-Rodriguez. Just don't call him A-Rod. How could you, though, really? I tell you, I just love my last period Writers' Workshop class where the mellifluously-monikered Arcadio and Alejandro sit side-by-side, not to mention they're both really cool kids who read Plato for fun and debate which Miles Davis album is best.

I love this job.