(no subject)
research is doooone! whooooo! :D
presentation actually went well. I felt like vomiting and fainting at the same time....my parents, Jon, and Prof Dean were all there, as was the chair of the English dept. two of my history profs were there, but thankfully they left before I went on. made me a little nervous. it went by reeeeeally quickly though. by the time I sat down I'd completely forgotten everything I said. Dean said I did a really good job and I answered the questions really well (you have 10-12 minutes to present and then a few minutes for questions). my parents of course were proud, and Jon sent me a text message later that said I did a good job (he had to go back to work). plus I had the support of my friends, and that always helps.
most of the presentations were great. my friend Julia did her research on obscenities in Chaucer.....people think medieval lit is crusty, but there are certain parts from The Canterbury Tales that are downright raunchy. haha, she did one Middle English word that meant "female genitals" and for the current meaning she wrote "hint- it begins with a c."
I had a pretty bad headache by the end of the day (no matter how interesting the subject matter is, it's difficult to sit through six hours of presentations, even with two short breaks and lunch), but I really did enjoy listening to people. one guy, a Music Ed major whose presentation the day before included four people actually singing the 17th century music he'd been researching, came up and started talking to me about my presentation and my project. it was awesome to actually discuss it with someone outside my discipline. yeah, my other group members all knew what I was doing, but a Music Ed major? it was really cool. he offered his help, since some of his music studies took him to medieval music, which I thought was really nice.
I realized today that I'll probably keep seeing all these awesome people I *just* started to get to know because most of them are doing thesises. yay!! :)
logic (and my body) tells me I desperately need a brain break, but I'm really antsy to start research on the thesis. I'm excited for it again. as I was talking with Chris, the music ed guy, we were talking about how parts of our project were *our own*. the music he was reseaching was pretty obscure, and he himself arranged the music into modern hand. when his friends performed it yesterday, it was probably one of the first times in a few hundred years that it had been heard. that's original. one of my ideas, something I want to research, I have yet to find anything that addresses it. that could be mine. it sounds silly, because that's what a thesis is- something completely original. but I think it just hit me today. everything I'll be doing is mine, all my interest, all my work. I'm getting credit to go into a topic that I find fascinating, to make a dent in the field (maybe, hahahaha). no syllabus to follow, no preordained book list. oooh man, I can wander around the library, pick a random book that looks pertinent, and just sit and read it.
that probably made sense to no one else (well, maybe Jon since he knows me entirely too well :).......but seriously. that's exciting.
this semester is going to kick major ass.
plus I'm auditing-maybe signing up for- a grad level English class. one of my profs from last semester is teaching a class on Old English, and I'd really love to take it (NERD! :). I don't want to sign up for it outright, I already have a busy schedule (although my dad says grad classes, although the material is more difficult-the workload is typically less than an undergrad class), but I'll give it a shot and see. the prof has no problem letting me in.
so yeah. I'm home now. although strangely enough, especially after this summer, Delaware is more home than NY is. lots to look forward to here-my favorite foooooooooods! and seeing a few friends. and hopefully, FINALLY going to the Blue Martini. nearly 30 different kinds of Martinis....I need to hit this. :) but still. I miss my hunny. :(
presentation actually went well. I felt like vomiting and fainting at the same time....my parents, Jon, and Prof Dean were all there, as was the chair of the English dept. two of my history profs were there, but thankfully they left before I went on. made me a little nervous. it went by reeeeeally quickly though. by the time I sat down I'd completely forgotten everything I said. Dean said I did a really good job and I answered the questions really well (you have 10-12 minutes to present and then a few minutes for questions). my parents of course were proud, and Jon sent me a text message later that said I did a good job (he had to go back to work). plus I had the support of my friends, and that always helps.
most of the presentations were great. my friend Julia did her research on obscenities in Chaucer.....people think medieval lit is crusty, but there are certain parts from The Canterbury Tales that are downright raunchy. haha, she did one Middle English word that meant "female genitals" and for the current meaning she wrote "hint- it begins with a c."
I had a pretty bad headache by the end of the day (no matter how interesting the subject matter is, it's difficult to sit through six hours of presentations, even with two short breaks and lunch), but I really did enjoy listening to people. one guy, a Music Ed major whose presentation the day before included four people actually singing the 17th century music he'd been researching, came up and started talking to me about my presentation and my project. it was awesome to actually discuss it with someone outside my discipline. yeah, my other group members all knew what I was doing, but a Music Ed major? it was really cool. he offered his help, since some of his music studies took him to medieval music, which I thought was really nice.
I realized today that I'll probably keep seeing all these awesome people I *just* started to get to know because most of them are doing thesises. yay!! :)
logic (and my body) tells me I desperately need a brain break, but I'm really antsy to start research on the thesis. I'm excited for it again. as I was talking with Chris, the music ed guy, we were talking about how parts of our project were *our own*. the music he was reseaching was pretty obscure, and he himself arranged the music into modern hand. when his friends performed it yesterday, it was probably one of the first times in a few hundred years that it had been heard. that's original. one of my ideas, something I want to research, I have yet to find anything that addresses it. that could be mine. it sounds silly, because that's what a thesis is- something completely original. but I think it just hit me today. everything I'll be doing is mine, all my interest, all my work. I'm getting credit to go into a topic that I find fascinating, to make a dent in the field (maybe, hahahaha). no syllabus to follow, no preordained book list. oooh man, I can wander around the library, pick a random book that looks pertinent, and just sit and read it.
that probably made sense to no one else (well, maybe Jon since he knows me entirely too well :).......but seriously. that's exciting.
this semester is going to kick major ass.
plus I'm auditing-maybe signing up for- a grad level English class. one of my profs from last semester is teaching a class on Old English, and I'd really love to take it (NERD! :). I don't want to sign up for it outright, I already have a busy schedule (although my dad says grad classes, although the material is more difficult-the workload is typically less than an undergrad class), but I'll give it a shot and see. the prof has no problem letting me in.
so yeah. I'm home now. although strangely enough, especially after this summer, Delaware is more home than NY is. lots to look forward to here-my favorite foooooooooods! and seeing a few friends. and hopefully, FINALLY going to the Blue Martini. nearly 30 different kinds of Martinis....I need to hit this. :) but still. I miss my hunny. :(