So I know I'm very strange but I've come to realize over the past year or so that I do actually enjoy learning. I do understand that the majority of College students do not feel the same way and are most likely in college to a)party b)meet someone to marry or c)make money. However I would like to rant today on classes which teach laziness and the acceptableness of using anything and everything to make money. Newsflash: This just in, especially if you claim to be a Christian, life is NOT about money.
I was doing my very first reading for my very first homework this semester for my Fiction Literature class which appeared to be the most professional seeming classes on my schedule thus far last night. We were to read an excerpt from The Canterbury Tales, the part with the Miller's Tale and the Reeve's Tale. So I'm innocently reading this classic literature, in fact one of the first novels written in English, and I come upon some very graphic and vulgar language which I was quite shocked to have found in such a prestigious work of so-called art. Ok so maybe it's not that big a deal for people who are "normal" I'm sure that some tv shows or songs or movies portray these types of "art" all the time. However this is me we're talking about, sheltered little Christian school me. So I got quite offended. But not completely for nothing.
My first thought was, "ok, maybe this is just a slip-up, maybe she didn't really mean for us to read this version of the text." However when I went to class today she addressed it directly and said that she knew we'd all be surprised that she would assign it to us to read, but she said that the word had been brought directly from the original text and was therefore okay. The idea is shock and awe. Chaucer takes the same approach to getting points across that I have observed Burning Coal Theatre Company takes. Do not want!
The second thing that came to mind was not only how it insulted me, but how it degraded me as a woman. If you know me, you know I am most certainly not a femenist by any means, however when you just lay things out there for all to see it makes me feel like I mean nothing. It brings back the feeling that since I am a woman I cannot go certain places and do certain things because it isn't safe, because some people treat us like we are only objects to be owned. This really bothers me because God says He loves me and that I am very important and beautiful, however when you have vulgar language like this, it really demeans me. I know that myself and other women are quite capable, but I think about my cousin Mira. She is so small and adorable, however she's grown up part of her life in a culture where it seems she has been taught that she is only good for being a wife and cooking and cleaning. This breaks my heart for her, because she is so sweet and smart and creative that she can do so much more.
The question that finally came to rest in my mind was this: "How is this funny?" Now this is rhetorical, but it really bothers me. When we spoke about it in class, the entire class laughed it off. Why? Are we really that immature? Is my professor really that immature as to stoop to that level to win the approval of her students? Is this the kind of academia that we praise so highly? I'm not impressed.
Let's aspire to something higher than that, please.
Elyz
Monday, August 23, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Dear Freshmen,
Dear Freshmen Class of 2014,
How can I encourage you? This past year has been unexplainable. I hope you have already begun to feel the freedom and responsibility settling in. When I left home last year I had no idea what to expect, and so I hope to give you all a few things I wish I had heard this time last year.
1) Err on the side of being too professional. First impressions on professors are everything, if a professor thinks you are a certain stereotype they will bill you as that for the entire semester. And they will grade you as such. It's almost like food service in that the professor is always right. Use humility and tactfulness in all your dealings with them and you should make the grades you deserve.
2) Don't go home every weekend. While I love my parents I may have gone home one too many weekends. Enjoy the freedom and get used to enjoying your own company. This really has been the hardest lesson for me so far, considering I have been deathly afraid of being alone. But you will enjoy this year so much more if you can be comfortable with going to a movie or going shopping by yourself. One thing that's helped me the most is using this time to be alone with God. Which you absolutely can never have too much of. And when all else fails: Wander. I have gotten so much out of just wandering around campus talking to God and running into friends. Don't ask how, but I have.
3) Let yourself make mistakess. (I originally went back and deleted the extra s, but then that seemed hypocritical.) Trust me, you WILL make mistakes, and big ones, but if you bash yourself over the head for every single one you will be a very unhappy person. Laugh it off. If you've read my blog from the first day last year you can clearly see, this took me awhile to understand too. But what you don't know was that the first semester I made all A's and the Dean's list as well as scoring a first role in my first audition. Not to say this is of my own doing, it was all God's work and He alone deserves the glory.
That's all that comes to mind at first glance, but if you ever have any questions feel free to comment them or facebook them to me and I'll try to help. In closing, pursue God; He loves you so fiercely it'd be a shame to close without echoing what I am sure you already know. Christ loves you so much, don't take it for granted.
Have fun!
Elyz
How can I encourage you? This past year has been unexplainable. I hope you have already begun to feel the freedom and responsibility settling in. When I left home last year I had no idea what to expect, and so I hope to give you all a few things I wish I had heard this time last year.
1) Err on the side of being too professional. First impressions on professors are everything, if a professor thinks you are a certain stereotype they will bill you as that for the entire semester. And they will grade you as such. It's almost like food service in that the professor is always right. Use humility and tactfulness in all your dealings with them and you should make the grades you deserve.
2) Don't go home every weekend. While I love my parents I may have gone home one too many weekends. Enjoy the freedom and get used to enjoying your own company. This really has been the hardest lesson for me so far, considering I have been deathly afraid of being alone. But you will enjoy this year so much more if you can be comfortable with going to a movie or going shopping by yourself. One thing that's helped me the most is using this time to be alone with God. Which you absolutely can never have too much of. And when all else fails: Wander. I have gotten so much out of just wandering around campus talking to God and running into friends. Don't ask how, but I have.
3) Let yourself make mistakess. (I originally went back and deleted the extra s, but then that seemed hypocritical.) Trust me, you WILL make mistakes, and big ones, but if you bash yourself over the head for every single one you will be a very unhappy person. Laugh it off. If you've read my blog from the first day last year you can clearly see, this took me awhile to understand too. But what you don't know was that the first semester I made all A's and the Dean's list as well as scoring a first role in my first audition. Not to say this is of my own doing, it was all God's work and He alone deserves the glory.
That's all that comes to mind at first glance, but if you ever have any questions feel free to comment them or facebook them to me and I'll try to help. In closing, pursue God; He loves you so fiercely it'd be a shame to close without echoing what I am sure you already know. Christ loves you so much, don't take it for granted.
Have fun!
Elyz
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)