i needed to find an old e-mail right now. i finally found it in one of my many many folders (22 to be exact). it was a reply to an e-mail i had written, but i couldn't remember what i had written that had elicited that particular reply. this led to more searching - but this time, only in the "sent" folder. after sorting through 800 e-mails (thank God i had remembered to check the date of the reply) i found what i was looking for.

describing this whole ordeal is not the point of this post, however. as i was searching for these e-mails, i also read some of my old e-mails (the ones i had sent). trip down memory lane...
have you ever looked back on yourself and asked "whyyyyyyyyyyyyy??? why did i do/say this?????" it was so embarrassing reading them, seeing my naivete plastered across the pages, right there in black ink. proof! it could be used as evidence. ("you honour, based on the evidence, we the jury have voted to condemn the accused on the charge of acting like a retard.") it was so surreal.
thank God it is a year later and i have become a little bit wiser (i hope). actually, thank God i only turned on the "save sent mail" feature last year (before that, it didn't used to save the e-mails i sent). can you imagine if i had my e-mails from three or four years ago? oh my God, i would probably die laughing.
at my TA orientation on wednesday a prof was talking about grading. he was telling us that when we grade the student's work we should not be too harsh and remember that they ARE only in first or second year. he explained, "if you want to get some perspective, go find your own papers from first year and read them over. try not to burn them, even if you are mortified."
after reading last years e-mails though, i'm definitely not taking out my first year papers...