Sorry I’ve been MIA as of late. I blame it on a sudden influx of activity into my life starting around the first of October. Most students will call this time of year ‘midterm season.’ Me? I call it ‘essay season.’ Or at least this term, I do.
So I’m in Arts One! I know what you’re thinking – ‘but isn’t that, like, really hard?’ Truth is, I don’t think I can accurately pinpoint it as hard. Challenging, yes, but I’ve never shied away from a challenge. For those of you who may not know what Arts One is, it’s an interdisciplinary program designed specifically for first-year Arts students. It’s team taught by five profs, and only 200 people are enrolled in the program each year. We get to pick one of two themes to unite our study of philosophy, history, and literature – I picked the theme of Remake/Remodel. Mondays, we get a lecture. Wednesday and Friday, I get to participate in a seminar with 15 of my fellow students, and Thursdays, I have join 3 other students and my prof in a writing tutorial. Basically what this boils down to is I get to read a book every week while simultaneously discussing last week’s book and critiquing last week’s essays and writing next week’s essay. This program is worth 18 credits, which is why I’m only taking FREN 122 and PSYC 101 outside of it. It’s also why I call ‘midterm season’ ‘essay season.’
I got my first essay back last week, and I was pleasantly surprised at my mark. Of course, I always have room to improve but I honestly thought my essay sucked, and it turns out it didn’t! I took my peers’ advice and I think my second essay is already an improvement on my writing, although I won’t know my mark until next week. I’m sure by the end of the year I’ll be able to compile a list of ‘Arts One Tips’ from my experiences.
In addition to writing 2 essays, I also had to write my first Psychology research report. Man oh man, was I lost when I ventured on this path. I’ve never done this style of writing before, and to make it even more difficult, I had never used APA format before (I’m sure many of you in the social sciences share my pain about APA). I’m very interested to see how I do on this, especially since I’ve come to really enjoy my Psych class.
Speaking of Psych, you know how they tell first-years to take a broad range of classes because you never know where your interests may lie? I’ve done just that, and I thought (and I’m still pretty sure, to be honest) that I knew I wanted to do a double major in French and Linguistics. I wasn’t expecting a class about behaviorism and memory traces and descriptive statistics to send an arrow straight into my heart. (I mean that in cute Cupid-y way, not a gruesome way). Sure, I still like Arts One and I’m starting to really enjoy my French class, but lately I find myself most looking forward to that first class of the day in the amazing building that is CIRS (which smells like IKEA btw). While I admit I sometimes don’t want to read my texts for Arts One, I always look forward to reading out of my Psych textbook. I’m now thinking of doing a double major in French and Speech Sciences, just so I can get those extra Psych classes in there.
I guess what I’m saying is, if anyone goes into university thinking they know exactly which classes they’ll take when and what the outcome of their degree will be (I did), they’re probably wrong. I was worried that I was gonna fall in love with a subject that I didn’t want to pursue, but I’m feeling really good right now about where my interests lie. Of course, that could completely change by next week. Who knows?
Alas, I’ve gotta get back to reading The Master and Margarita (234 pages down, 178 to go). Until next time, adios!
P.S. I went to two Bon Jovi concerts earlier this month and I still have post-concert depression. It is possible to simultaneously love and hate a band.
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