Behind the syllabus: Stephen Long

What do you do during the weekends?

My wife and I had our first child (a boy, Grant Thomas Long) in December, so my weekends nowadays are taken up playing with our son, changing his diapers, trying to catch up on lost sleep and sometimes having a conversation or two with my wife when one of us isn't occupied with Grant. Sometimes I get to make a trip to the grocery store, which counts as excitement.

What's the craziest thing you did when you were in college?

When I was on a study abroad program in China, I traveled with two classmates on an overnight ferry to an island known for its temples, even though none of us had any more than two months of Mandarin training up to that point. Suffice it to say, we drew a lot of pictures of buses, food, bathrooms, etc., and had many confusing conversations. We had a great time, though, and made it home in one piece.

What's one thing your students would never guess about you?

My students would probably be surprised to hear that I've been skydiving. For my wife's 30th birthday, she tossed me out of a plane at 10,000 feet. Luckily, someone had strapped a parachute and a skydiving instructor to my back beforehand.

Contact staff writers Maria Ribas at mariaelisa.ribas@richmond.edu or Maggie Finucane at margaretfinucane@richmond.edu