The classroom is so rare. It’s one of the few times a group of different people have to be in the same room. Outside, it’s only strangers in subway rides for a few minutes. Or waiting in line for food or being in some doctor’s office. When I take the bus, everyone’s so tense. They don’t talk to each other. But to come in a room Monday to Friday, to know which people are shy, who volunteers to read, who cheats, and to laugh... There’s rarely a congregation like that.