November 2008 – Sam Was Here

So now that it is officially the end of term (minus exams) I would like to take a moment to discuss the classes and profs I had this term. I will list the class name (and code), the instructor, the days we met, the time, and my comments. Think of it as Rate My First Term. I think if we all did this, we would be able to take some pretty sweet classes that we may have ignored before. So, the contenders of this term are:

Creative Writing 202 (Introduction to Creative Writing)
Kevin Chong
Monday/Wednesday/Friday
9:00am – 10:00am

As this is the only Creative Writing class open to those not in the Creative Writing Faculty, I would definitely recommend it for anyone who thinks they might want to try Creative Writing out. The timing for the class proved slightly difficult to make it to three times a week, though the one next term is in the afternoon, so that fixes that problem. We were graded on three things alone, a short story, a non fiction piece, and a poetry piece, with no final exam (which is seriously nice). I think my favorite part of this course was all the prompts we received (about once a week) to get us writing. The prof was kind and interesting, I would certainly recommend this course.

Philosophy 385A (Existentialism)
Steven Taubeneck
Monday/Wednesday/Friday
10:00am – 11:00am

First off, Philosophy is, by no means, my subject, but Dr. Taubeneck really made it sink in. He is a really interesting prof, one that knows a lot of things about a lot of things, and who seems to really want to get to know the students he teaches. Max and I flipped around our schedules next term just to take another class with him, Topics in 19th Century Philosophy. We were graded on two in-class essay exams, as well as two papers (a personal and a public experience, in which we link what we have learned in the course to our own lives). We were allowed to edit and resubmit anything we were graded on for a better mark, and he really seemed to put a lot of effort into the class. We ended the term with a costume party, seriously, how cool is that? I want everyone to take this course.

Anthropology 227 (Culture, Health, and Illness)
Vinay Kamat
Monday/Wednesday/Friday
11:00am – 12:00pm

Oh my goodness, I loved this class. It was my first anthropology class, but it was so compelling that I am strongly considering taking Anth 100 just so I can take more courses like it. Dr. Kamat is an incredible lecturer, he keeps your interest throughout the whole class, and teaches you some pretty awesome stuff. We focussed on things like, AIDS in Africa, home vs. hospital birth, genital mutilation, and anything that effects our perception of health. We were graded on two exams, a group presentation, and a mini-ethnography (in which we go out and do our own field work to draw a conclusion about a medical issue that our society faces). There was a lot of reading, but it was all incredibly interesting, and I learned so much. You should take this class. Seriously.

English 227 (Prose Fiction)
Gisele Baxter
Monday/Wednesday/Friday
1:00pm – 2:00pm

This class really fed my literary side. We read six books, Frankenstien, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula, Mean Boy, and The Prestige. I actually read all of them (something I wasn’t entirely used to following Arts One) and I actually enjoyed them all quite a bit. Dr. Baxter is a really interesting woman, who clearly cares a lot about these books. She asked a lot of questions in class to get us thinking, and really encouraged us to participate. We were graded on two in-class essay exams (including the final), and a term paper. I love this class, honestly, and I recommend it to anyone who might find any of the books interesting. Seriously, this is not your average English class.

English 225 (Poetry)
Stephen Partridge
Tuesday/Thursday
12:30pm – 2:00pm

This was definitely the class I loved to participate in. It discussed one of my favorite subjects, poetry, and managed to cover a great deal of poets, styles, and time periods. Dr. Partridge is a really nice guy, a classic professor that leads the class earnestly and is open to help students whenever we need him. I could tell that he really loved the topic and his interest inspired me to work even harder. He was one of the few profs I had that actually learned all of our names, and he would send out emails every week to keep us on track. We were graded on three quizes, a presentation (on just about anything related to poetry we desired), an essay (again, we had A LOT of freedom when it came to the topic of our essay AND we got points for just submitting our idea for our essay), and the final exam. I realize that the topic of poetry isn’t really for everyone, but if you want to dabble, I highly recommend this course.

Actually, looking over it, I had a really great term. I was actually rather bummed to see it end yesterday. I hope next term is good, though I am a bit worried, because this time Max and I are killing our science requirement with two large doses of Geography. Wish us luck!

The crush of November, with its constant supply of exams and papers, has buried me so deeply that I, unfortunately, have not had the time to update as of late. I can say that the guilt has been weighing on me for quite a while now, and I am happy to get it off my shoulders now.

I was walking to work on Wednesday of this last week, making my way down Main mall, with its sweeping lawns and majestic Canadian flag at the very end, when I realized just how many people I was surrounded by. I realized that there were countless people who I shared a great deal with that I would never know, and I got a small little pain in my heart. It was I then that I decided to start making a conscious effort to make eye contact with as many of my passing peers, and notice as much about them, as possible. In the ten minutes I spent walking down the mall I must have locked eyes with over one hundred people. I noticed small things, like steaming cups of coffee and scratched up cell phones, and big things, like one girl who was clearly on the brink of tears, and another who seemed to glow in happiness.

I realized that there was little more I could do than forcing these tiny periods of eye contact, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to cross that gap. So here it is.

I am going to try to get more people this year, and I think you should too. We are all in the same, rather gigantic, boat together and I think we could all use someone else to lean on. We aren’t strangers, we’re neighbors, classmates, partners, study buddies, and most of all, peers. We shouldn’t spend these four years afraid of each other.

So, if you are reading this, and you happen to see me making my way across campus or sitting beside you in class, don’t be afraid to introduce yourself. I will try to start speaking up myself, and maybe, we can jump across that awkward gap together.

(I have yet another four papers to write, it is going to be a long week.)