(no subject)

[ravenrae]

My favorite class this semester is definitely philosophy of science with professor Sansom. I had him last year for intro to philosophy, and I was really excited to take another class from him because he is an awesome professor. He seems to try to keep his classes small to facilitate class discussions. This is something I never thought I'd miss from high school....I shudder to remember the graded discussions we had in the AP English classes. But now that I'm in college and most of my classes are held in huge lecture halls where discussion is rarely possible, I seem to jump at the opportunity to participate in those few smaller classes like Dr. Sansom's. It's really something I never thought I had in me. In his classes I participate just as much, if not more, than the other students. And Dr. Sansom usually approves of what I say, so I guess I make good points, too. I've discovered that he and my classmates seem to think of me as opinionated, outspoken, and even...confident(?) about what I have to say. This is so strange to me, because I'm actually really shy! I'm certainly aware of my nervousness signals when I'm talking in class: I don't make eye contact, I speak softly and slowly, and my hands shake (I gesture with my hands, so I thought this would draw attention to their shaking). Maybe all that isn't as obvious as I think it is.

I do think the classes I've taken with Dr. Sansom really have helped improve my confidence. It's helped me become better at speaking up in public, articulating myself, justifying my ideas, and *gasp* disagreeing with people without feeling terribly insecure. While there I feel transformed from my usual meek, timid, passive rachel-self into Philosopher Rachel. (Hehe.) It's nice.