Does anyone in the sound of my voice remember The King and I–Rogers and Hammerstein’s Broadway show that hit the boards in 1951 and became one of the Great White Way’s four longest-running shows? If not, perhaps you know the dramatic film remake, Anna and the King, with Jodie Foster and  Chow Yun Fat? The novel, the stage musical, the film–all are fictions rooted in the real-life adventures of Anna Harriette Leonowens, a British widow who was hired mid-19th century by the King of Siam–now Thailand–to teach his passel of children and wives (82 and 39, respectively). She was learned and formidable, taking on the King over many points of conduct and ritual.

A lot of backstory, I realize, for a song from the musical–Anna’s first-day in the classroom tune, “Getting to Know You”–that was knocking on my mind’s door the morning of Community Service Day. But there it was: I was, in fact, getting to know some people I hadn’t known before. It’s true that I see two of the four regularly in class–Nolan and Evan–and Oscar, the Grounds Crew leader behind the wheel, I’ve known for years. But not so the other two students–Stuart (a junior) and another freshman, Finn. There’s something about hauling around campus on a flatbed truck collecting stuff for the thrift store or the dump, then sorting through it all, driving to the Second Helpings’ drop-off spot, off-loading, and returning to campus–even only three hours of this–that brings you into a new relationship with your co-workers.

It’s the same with taking dinner down to the homeless shelter, alternate Sundays throughout the late fall and winter. Of the participants, Nayla was my advisee and English student; Lane was one of my EDT-to-GTC buddies fall of her freshman year, and Reed and I go all the way back to English 1 together. But Rachel and Susanna? I’ve never had them in my advisory or class. Our trips to and from the shelter may not give us a whole lot of time, but they provide a point of connection that inform our moments crossing paths on campus or in the d-hall. We’re in it together and we know each other just a little better because we are.

Formal dinner, too.  The past two weeks, it’s been Alex and Asher, Lili, Wallace, Orren, Wesley, and various “floaters”–Charlie, Ben.  I get to know them bit by bit–their take on this year’s Oscar contenders, birthday traditions in their families, how they’re handling the run-up to finals, whether they think introversion and extroversion can be self-regulated, or if they are willing guessers or quick buzzers-in when we play Trivia during dessert.

“Getting to know you, getting to know all about you”–it’s what happens here, almost constantly and mostly in ways small and incremental. “Day by day.”

Oh, wait.

That’s Godspell. And a whole new earworm.