Saturday, May 15, 2010

The Discontent of a Lazy Mind

So this may seem crazy, but I'm going crazy not being in class.  There is something about being challenged and stressed that, in spite of my complaining while it's currently happening, really keeps me going.  My finals were over about 2 weeks ago and I thought Summer semester was starting last Monday.  So I got down to Norfolk and was sitting in front of the classroom but no one else was around.  I finally started thinking that something was wrong.  I rechecked the schedule and saw that they start this Monday.  This week I've felt antsy and edgy because I wasn't in that environment that pushes me to learn.  I know it may seem crazy.  If I had read this when I was 19 I would have thought I was crazy.  So, I'm really glad to have new classes start on Monday.

In High School I took one year of Spanish...twice.  Meaning that I never got my foreign language credit.  So Monday I start learning French.  As I've gotten older knowing other languages and cultures has become very important to me and I chose French...well...basically because I have a built in Teacher.  Jess took 5 years of French in High School and I thought it would be fun to have someone around the house apartment to discourse with.  I'm hoping it's something I enjoy.  If it is I'll probably end up buying the Rosetta Stone series to continue learning after my two semesters of French at ODU are done.  I've heard good things about those. 

In other school related news, I went and observed a High School History class.  And after much thought and consideration I've decided that it was not something I wanted to pursue.  So what now do I major in? Answer...I've kept my major in Computer Science.  I thought teaching was something that seemed ok and that I might have an ok time with it.  But I'm not sure that is a good approach to have when trying to "enlighten" young minds.  I think it should be more of an immediate connection with the job...and I just didn't have that..for History anyways.  But the whole reason I was looking into to teaching History was because I love the Humanities (english, history, political science, philosophy).  I still think its important that I don't just approach my time at ODU as something to get me a better job.  So I went looking for a minor that would suit me.  I really enjoy my Philosophy class, so I concidered minoring in that.  Then I stumbled on an interdisciplinary study called "American Studies".  It combines History, English, and Political Science to try and answer the questions "What is America?", "Is ther still an American Dream?" and "How do American history and culture interact?"  So there you have it...tough decisions made.  And for what it's worth I had a wonderful Professor, Professor Olariu, for my Discrete Structures class and he was able to re-frame the way that I look at the study of Computer Science in a way that clicked with who I am.  So in staying with Comp Sci and I feel better in that 1. I made a decision on what to major in and 2. I'm majoring in something that, now, has interest for me. 

Now...The Replacements...






5 comments:

Jessie M. said...

je ferai mon meilleur pour vous aider à apprendre le français!

Jessie M. said...

that should say... "I will do my best to help you learn french"

so much for my memory and babel fish translator... :p

Swadhi said...

I stumbled on your blog post randomly and found it relevant, so I decided to post a comment! :)

I totally get you on the going crazy without school...almost. I do agree that a stressful environment can sometimes be quite pleasant - more pleasant than a no-stress environment at least! Dunno if I would crazy without school though! :P

I'm curious as to what you mean by saying teaching "is [not] a good approach to have when trying to "enlighten" young minds."

I look forward to a response!

Scott757 said...

Hey Swadhi. Thanks for stopping by my corner of the internet. What I was trying to convey is that I think teaching is really important. Important enough that if someone was going to teach I'm not sure an attitude similar to that which one might take a job at the local mall is the best way to go. Now...I realize that I'm about to paint with a wide brush and each individual situation is different. However, for lack of a better term it seems like teaching should be a "calling" where you instantly know this is what you should be doing. Now, I've not completely withdrawn my hat from the "teaching ring". But it was pretty apparent that even though I might be able to teach, I didn't feel an immediate connection with teaching HS History. So I decided to not pursue that avenue. Does that make sense?

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