Last week was crazy. I had a sociology research paper to tackle, which was an adventure in and of itself (I barely know how to write if I’m not analyzing metaphors or arguing for Biblical themes in books), way too many books of the Aeneid to read, and two chapters of bio. However, I came out alive and unscathed, and I’m pleasantly surprised by the apparent calmness of this week. Of course, I worry I’m forgetting something (like that bio presentation due next Monday or Wednesday . . . hmmm), but it certainly appears that the workflow will ebb and flow.
I believe it’s time for an update on my classes. First of all, we’re entering the fifth week of classes. Where did time go? I feel as if I’ve been here forever, but not in a bad way. Here are three reasons why time going by quickly is a good thing:
1) The weekends arrive that much sooner.
2) It means you’re really busy (which I am. Yay!)
3) By the time you process that you haven’t seen your family in two months, you’re back home for spring break.
But I digress. Back to classes, in order of least favorite to most favorite.
4. Biotechnology and social impact (Code for insanely annoying technical terms and liberal-leaning opinions):
Technically it’s my ‘easiest’ class, because the homework is minimal, but it is also science and therefore rather foreign to me, considering my last science class was chemistry on-line approximately three years ago. Everything makes perfect sense in class with Prof. Robertson, an adorable little-old-lady with an awesome collection of stylish boots, but then I leave and am overwhelmed by nightmares of transcription, translation, reproduction, hybridization, and all the other processes that occur on the microscopic level. So far it’s been a lecture class which, while straightforward, means it’s not always particularly interesting.
3. English American Lit (currently known as “Apparently Puritans are the only Americans worth reading”):
I will give the Puritans credit – they wrote a lot about God, which was good. My favorite kind of English paper involves bringing religion into novels in slightly tenuous ways, but the Puritans do that for me. Sadly, they seem to miss the main point of Jesus most of the time, which means I often find myself, while studying alone, yelling at Puritans for misrepresenting Christianity to all the atheists in my class (of which there are many). Instead of answering the professor’s prompt (oops), I happily argued that the Puritans were picking their favorite parts of both the Old and New Testaments and ignoring the rest.
Anyway, the class is pretty good. The professor is passionate without being crazy (it’s a nice change), but man, does he go in-depth over the most ridiculous little things. I think the constant over-analysis of EVERYTHING is what has finally disillusioned me as to the English major. Eventually you have to ask yourself . . . “perhaps Mary Rowlandson didn’t MEAN anything with the change of pronouns. Perhaps she just couldn’t WRITE properly.” But no, we analyze everything, and this class more so than others. It’s a bit excessive, even for me.
2. Humanities 102: Intro to GreekImeanRoman World
Speaking of crazy, Professor Mease. Wow. We’re in the Humanities class pertaining to the Roman world, yet she’s disappointed when we can’t answer her questions on the Greeks, and every other tangent involves Greeks I’ve never heard of and who I hope won’t make a surprise appearance on the midterm.
I complain about her teaching methods (a lot), and sometimes I wonder if I’m learning anything, but when I’m reading so much awesome, classic literature, I feel that it’s worth all the suffering. I’m nearly done with “The Aeneid,” an epic poem I always meant to tackle, and I enjoy it quite a bit. Even if she doesn’t teach me much, I’ll have significantly broadened my horizons.
Also, the Romans should pick one name for their characters and stick with that. Please.
1. Intro to Sociology (aka “Dad is always right”)
I. LOVE. SOCIOLOGY.
It’s the reading I start with every night. ---- I actually love participating in class. --- Our world is not at all what I thought it was. --- I can analyze everyone even more! --- the readings address all my questions about humanity (minus the religious element) --- the novels I’ve already written deal with the stuff I’m now officially learning --- I can’t wait for linguistics
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