First Post of 2017!
I’m not off to a good start with this blog, I know. I made the mistake of starting this right before finals week last semester, then Christmas season happened, then the deadness of January started. I didn’t know what to write about for a while, since I’m still trying to process the inauguration and the executive orders and things that make me want to throw up–maybe I’ll get back to you on that. For now, I want to talk about something normal and about things that make me happy.
What this semester looks like for me:
Since I only declared a couple months ago, it is officially my first semester as an English major! Woohoo!! I’m taking two English classes: Medieval-1800 British Lit and Intro to Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy.
My Brit Lit professor is apparently an expert in British poetry (and can understand Old English??) which is intimidating. So far we’ve read Beowulf (all of it…help) and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I would highly recommend that one; it’s a very trippy Arthurian Romance–there is a knight who is literally GREEN and walks away after his head is chopped off. Can’t get any weirder than that.
What exactly IS writing, rhetoric, and literacy? I think it’s a confusing name for something that just basically means “professional writing.” Before I declared English, I was interested in Journalism, but I thought I would miss not being able to read and analyze literature all the time. So, I decided to declare English with a concentration in WRL, because it would help refine my nonfiction writing skills without having to sacrifice taking classes in literature and creative writing. In my Intro to WRL class, we analyze a lot of speeches and various texts for persuasive techniques. It’s only the third week so I haven’t written many papers yet, but I’m actually looking forward to it.
The other three classes I’m taking are Statistics (I don’t want to talk about it), Peace Studies, and Nonprofit Organizations. Peace Studies is an International Affairs course, which is a minor I’m considering. My professor is this eccentric British man who also runs a humanitarian NGO by sending peacekeepers out to developing countries to resolve various conflicts. That class is a look at human nature and how conflicts are resolved through violence, nonviolence, and peace. It’s a lot of interactive discussion and model UN-type forums, which I appreciate as a welcomed break from textbooks and powerpoint lectures.
My Nonprofit Organizations class is part of the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, since Public Affairs/Nonprofit Management is another minor I’m considering. Most classes I’ve taken so far are very theory-based (English, Political Science, Anthropology, etc.), but this class is all about the practical knowledge of understanding how nonprofits work and how to effectively run one. My love of museums and my experience volunteering with a sex trafficking rehabilitation nonprofit a couple years ago made me realize the life-altering change that can be achieved through nonprofits. I feel a very personal, along with generational, obligation to fix humanitarian crises around the world, and although it’s just one class, it’s a stepping stone for my involvement in addressing problems and needs for the future.
So yep, that’s what my life is revolving around right now! I’m looking forward to 2017, and I’ll end by making some recommendations for movies, tv shows, songs, and books (because you need more of that in your life):
- Movie: I recently (twice) watched Captain Fantastic, starring Viggo Mortensen (nominated for best actor). Kinda indie, kinda whimsical, but so worth it.
- Show: Over Christmas I (also twice) watched the HBO show Westworld. I know a lot of people have seen it, and for good reason–if you haven’t, prepare for some mind fuckery.
- Song: “All We Ever Knew” by The Head and the Heart, because I’m going to their concert soon.
- Book: Currently reading Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. (You may have heard of her bestseller, Americanah. Read that too. Also, watch her TED talk/read her short book called We Should All Be Feminists: a very short, insightful look into equality from an intersectional lens.)
Enjoy! Thanks for reading!
