I am a Big Nerd

I love the first day of school! There's just something so refreshing about it...

There's the anticipation of learning new things.

New faces replace the same old ones, and same old ones become refreshing, familiar ones.

You never have to deal with that one professor again...you know the one.

The smell of new books pervades your backpack/room/car/wherever the kids store them these days.

Every class holds the potential for being a defining experience.

So yeah! Sure, the hope of learning comes along with syllibi full of work to be done, and the smell of new books always comes along with a smaller bank balance, but if you look on the bright side, the new semester can be a pleasent beginning for all. That said, this one's gonna be a toughie for sure...

On tuesday I started with Piano for Non-Majors II, which looks like it's going to be just as enjoyable as Piano for Non-Majors I, as long as I can get back into the rhythm of things. I might need to practice though.

After that was History of the Crusades, with Dr. Magnusson, for whom I had Medieval Europe a few semesters ago. The tone and work level seem about the same for this class, so academically, all should go well. This is my biggest class, with about 100 people, and randomly sitting down in one of the few open seats, I managed to sit by two people I already know. There's also one of my favorite people from work in that class, which will mark the first time I've ever had a class with someone from work.

Later that evening I had Evolution of Martyrdom with Dr. Shmuel Shepkaru, an Israeli with a really cool accent. He was pretty Socratic, which was really refreshing, since most professors I've run across have been all about class discussion or plain old lecture. The subject matter seems pretty interesting, tracing martyrdom in Judaism, Christianity, and Western culture in general as a concept, and looking at particular defining events and martyrs. Sadly, I'm probably going to drop this class, since the timing is difficult, and I don't want to take 18 hours. This semester's going to be hard enough as it is. This is all assuming that...

...I can get into Spanish Reading & Lit., with which I started this morning. I'm not enrolled for real, but there were about five people who were that didn't show up this morning. Unfortunately, there were about five people who weren't enrolled trying to get in, so we'll see. Basically, it's a reading/writing heavy Spanish class, except more on the reading this time.

After Spanish, I had History of the American Southwest, which, from the reading list, looked like it was going to be all about the opression of Indians. After the first lecture, it appears that this won't be the case. The workload, though, is going to be quite big, lots of reading, and more writing assignments than I'm used to for a comparable course. The professor seems pretty enjoyable though, so we'll see.

After that, I immediately went to go sign up for an audition time in concert band. I haven't practiced at all, but I'll look over it later. Besides, I don't really care all that much what part they put me on.

Finally, I had my Honors colloquium, which has some long main title, but the subtitle is the one that makes sense: The Other in Science Fiction Film and Lit. When I walked in, I immediately felt like nerdiness count of the environment had gone up by about %50. I'm not sure why that surprised me; it's an honors class about Sci-Fi, for crying out loud. If there will be a straw that breaks my proverbial camel's back this go-round, this will be it. There's about 300 pages of reading per week, a film screening every other week, 31-55 pages of writing, an oral presentation, and a final creative project. Whew! The good news is, if I survive it, the actual material and class discussion should be a lot of fun.

...So it looks to be a pretty interesting semester. I might have to take up residence at the library to get enough of the work done, but that's a bridge I'll cross on arrival.