(no subject)
The semester finally came to a conclusion on Thursday and it was another really rough one. For some reason over the past two semesters I just haven't been as focused as I was earlier, and this semester taking six classes really didn't help the situation any. In all I think I did fairly well this semester though I didn't do as well as I would have liked. I did have a chance to broaden the scope of my learning experience a bit by taking classes that were a bit different than classes that I'd previously taken.
My Crusades class was one of those in that I previously knew next to nothing about Medieval Europe or the entire epoch of the Crusades. Being Catholic, the history of the Crusades is somewhat relevant to my own family heritage, it is entirely possible, perhaps likely, that I've had ancestors participating in Crusades at some point in time. As I continue to delve into my own historical past perhaps I'll learn more about that. Even if not, it was interesting to see the course that these events took and the way in which they've shaped the world we live in today. It can be hard to see the influences of events that took place so long ago but with a discerning eye they can be spotted, and they're everywhere.
The other class that was a real change of pace for me was my Modern Political Theory class. Though it wasn't required for my major and was just a filler class I took to get to twelve units this semester this class really wound up being one of those experiences that have changed the way in which I see the world. It really was a foundation-shaking experience and I couldn't be happier that I made the decision to take it. I had thought that it would be a study of the current political ideologies in the United States but I really couldn't have been more wrong. The class was in reality a study of the political thinkers upon whom the whole concept of liberalism, and our own political structure, is based upon. Reading the works of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, and a little Dostoevski and their discussion over the past five hundred years on what makes a good government has brought some of the political ideas I've had over the years into focus and made me reconsider others. It would take hours and pages to explain why this class was so important to me so I won't go any more in depth, but it was certainly one of the best classes of my college experience.
To top off a great week, the day after my last final my brother came back from spending the last four months in China. We've spent time apart before between his going off to school and my own preoccupations but the fact that I couldn't have occasional contact with him through facebook or xbox live really made it a different experience. Getting to sit around and talk and just generally bullshit around has been fun, I hope to spend more time doing some of that before he goes back to school again. His time in China really seemed like an incredible experience and he seems to have done quite a bit of growing in his time there. I'm somewhat envious but at the same time I'm glad he was able to do something like that, being immersed in a different culture can do wonders for perspective on your own.
Since starting this last semester I've really fallen out of contact with pretty much every one of my friends. I miss several of them quite a bit but at the same time over the past year or so I've felt an increasing social awkwardness within myself that makes me reluctant to venture out of my reclusiveness. I hate being all emo about it but something feels very wrong and I'm not especially sure about how to go about fixing it. The past few months have been a little odd socially. I'm probably just over-thinking shit but that doesn't make it any easier.
Meh, I'm going to go hop back into my online safety net and stab some pixels to make myself feel better.
My Crusades class was one of those in that I previously knew next to nothing about Medieval Europe or the entire epoch of the Crusades. Being Catholic, the history of the Crusades is somewhat relevant to my own family heritage, it is entirely possible, perhaps likely, that I've had ancestors participating in Crusades at some point in time. As I continue to delve into my own historical past perhaps I'll learn more about that. Even if not, it was interesting to see the course that these events took and the way in which they've shaped the world we live in today. It can be hard to see the influences of events that took place so long ago but with a discerning eye they can be spotted, and they're everywhere.
The other class that was a real change of pace for me was my Modern Political Theory class. Though it wasn't required for my major and was just a filler class I took to get to twelve units this semester this class really wound up being one of those experiences that have changed the way in which I see the world. It really was a foundation-shaking experience and I couldn't be happier that I made the decision to take it. I had thought that it would be a study of the current political ideologies in the United States but I really couldn't have been more wrong. The class was in reality a study of the political thinkers upon whom the whole concept of liberalism, and our own political structure, is based upon. Reading the works of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, and a little Dostoevski and their discussion over the past five hundred years on what makes a good government has brought some of the political ideas I've had over the years into focus and made me reconsider others. It would take hours and pages to explain why this class was so important to me so I won't go any more in depth, but it was certainly one of the best classes of my college experience.
To top off a great week, the day after my last final my brother came back from spending the last four months in China. We've spent time apart before between his going off to school and my own preoccupations but the fact that I couldn't have occasional contact with him through facebook or xbox live really made it a different experience. Getting to sit around and talk and just generally bullshit around has been fun, I hope to spend more time doing some of that before he goes back to school again. His time in China really seemed like an incredible experience and he seems to have done quite a bit of growing in his time there. I'm somewhat envious but at the same time I'm glad he was able to do something like that, being immersed in a different culture can do wonders for perspective on your own.
Since starting this last semester I've really fallen out of contact with pretty much every one of my friends. I miss several of them quite a bit but at the same time over the past year or so I've felt an increasing social awkwardness within myself that makes me reluctant to venture out of my reclusiveness. I hate being all emo about it but something feels very wrong and I'm not especially sure about how to go about fixing it. The past few months have been a little odd socially. I'm probably just over-thinking shit but that doesn't make it any easier.
Meh, I'm going to go hop back into my online safety net and stab some pixels to make myself feel better.