It's snowing big here in Baltimore... not in that we're getting a lot of snow. Just in that the snow that started coming down about half and hour ago is falling in these really gigantic clumps. And it is so beautiful. Snow is so special to me, for some reason... I feel a lot of things about it that sound sort of silly, so I'll skip that. It's just so nice to finally see snow sticking on the ground. It didn't snow until my last day in New York, and the past few weeks in Baltimore have been unseasonably warm, even for Maryland... we had a few 60F days. I wasn't pleased.
Well, in any case, Oxford has been an ongoing process, so I won't say much about that right now. Very basically, I've filled out my forms for requesting courses, and I should know what college I'm at by the beginning of March. I know I said I would know about that a few weeks ago, but of course, there was a whole other part of applying to Oxford that I didn't know about that came after actually getting into the program, so that's been occupying quite a bit of my time over the past few weeks. But! In the meantime, here are the courses I've signed up for:
History of the British Isles 1685-Present
Theories of State
Nationalism in Western Europe, 1799-1890
Intellect and Culture in Victorian Britain
The Science of Society 1650-1800
Revolution and Empire in France, 1789-1815
The Romance of the People: The Folk Revival from 1760 to 1914
The Metropolitan Crucible: London 1685-1815
Imperialism and Nationalism 1830-1980
Historiography
I won't be taking all of these-- I'll get into six of them, and take two per term. So, we'll see what happens with that!
In the meantime, I'm taking six 200-level classes. Which, just about two weeks in, is already seeming like a very bad idea. I haven't slept in three days, and instead of catching up on sleep this weekend, I stayed up to watch a 4-hour movie for "Culture and Change: India," which I have to write a pretty short paper on. It's not the paper that bothers me-- it's that I had to stay up to watch a four-hour movie. And this is basically the idea of the class. So. I still have four essays to write, two books to finish, and my Cryptology assignments to do.
I don't mean for that to sound as whiny as it does, and if I were doing this any other semester besides this one, I would just push though it. But... well. I've been trying to get better about knowing when to stop myself with these sorts of things, and I think this is really a point at which I need to swallow my pride and... well. Take care of things. I was talking to Professor Fraser the other day-- I went to visit her in her office. It was really nice, to just sit down and have a long chat-- and she told me that she was proud and excited for me (things I think every student wants to hear from their favorite professor), but that I shouldn't feel like I need to push myself so hard this semester. She said that if I needed to drop a class, I'd still be able to graduate early, and it would be better than burning myself out just in time to get to Oxford. I also talked to one of my senior friends this morning... she told me she was worried when she heard how much I was taking, and that this wasn't the semester for me to "kill [my]self with work," as she puts it.
So, while it pains me to do so (and I mean that), I'm dropping "Culture and Change: India."
It's not that it's a difficult class, particularly, though perhaps I shouldn't judge after just two classes, but it's certainly problematic in terms of the timing and the set-up of the course in general. It is held on Tuesdays, from 7.00pm to 9.30pm. Not ideal, but if it were twice I week, I could deal with it. As it is, it is only held once a week, and we spend most of the time watching Bollywood movies. I have no interest, to be honest-- at least, not enough interest to spend all of my "free" time finishing the movies so I can write one-page papers on them. (Really. If I'm going to watch a four-hour movie, I'd better be doing it to write at least a four-page paper.) The way I see it, I can take it during my senior year, when I'll be able to take it with Sara and hopefully have a little energy back. In addition... while I really loved last semester, it was rough. And while I'm sure I'll love Oxford, I'm just as sure that it will be even rougher. So, as I've been told, it's not worth me burning myself out now. Maybe I need a bit of a lull.
Maybe I don't have to explain myself so much, though... I've found more and more that my expectations for myself far outstrip those of most of the adults in my life. It's bizarre. I know, intuitively, that just taking five classes is the best thing for me at this point-- honestly, there is no down-side to any of this-- but I still feel the urge to just push through the six classes. I'm extremely reluctant to admit defeat, I suppose. And so early in... but, I have to make the decision now. Monday is the last day I have to drop classes without it showing up on my transcript, and I know the situation would be even worse if I had to worry about that.
I hope all of that made sense... again, I haven't slept, so I apologize in advance for any unintelligible sentences.
But I'm making it sound as if the past few weeks have been nothing but angst... for the most part, things have been pretty good. Winter break felt very short comparred to last year, but it was far busier in general.
It's been nice to be back at Goucher, on the whole. Of course, there's everything I just spewed, and there's the typical drama of living with 1400-odd other people between the ages of 18 and 22, but really... it's been good. I may have already mentioned this, but one of my best friends, Sara, is studying abroad in Costa Rica this semester. I sort of expected to miss her, but... well. It's been difficult. We became very close last semester, and being without her is painful. I miss her. But I suppose the only thing to do is to keep busy-- which I've been doing. All of my classes (aside from the obvious one) are fantastic. Professor Beachy, the head of the History Department and my professor for Modern German History and Social Theory in Historical Context is just so fun to be taught by... our relationship thus far has basically consisted of making faces at each other during class, and talking about what courses I'm taking at Oxford this year. I also have Material Culture and England & Colonial America with Professor Sheller-- my advisor for the Historic Preservation minor. I've always liked her personally, but I have to say she's a much better history professor than historic preservation professor. We're reading Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, by David Hackett Fischer (whose name I know I have seen before somewhere, and frequently) among other things, though I'm finding this book particularly fascinating... I'm also taking Cryptology with Professor Lewand to take care of my math requirement, and I am loving it. It's very addictive, actually...
Otherwise, I've been trying to keep my social life together, really. I wish I could say that this is what has been keeping me busy, but most of it has consisted of getting together with my friends and doing homework while they goof off. Not that I'm complaining.
Well, in any case, Oxford has been an ongoing process, so I won't say much about that right now. Very basically, I've filled out my forms for requesting courses, and I should know what college I'm at by the beginning of March. I know I said I would know about that a few weeks ago, but of course, there was a whole other part of applying to Oxford that I didn't know about that came after actually getting into the program, so that's been occupying quite a bit of my time over the past few weeks. But! In the meantime, here are the courses I've signed up for:
History of the British Isles 1685-Present
Theories of State
Nationalism in Western Europe, 1799-1890
Intellect and Culture in Victorian Britain
The Science of Society 1650-1800
Revolution and Empire in France, 1789-1815
The Romance of the People: The Folk Revival from 1760 to 1914
The Metropolitan Crucible: London 1685-1815
Imperialism and Nationalism 1830-1980
Historiography
I won't be taking all of these-- I'll get into six of them, and take two per term. So, we'll see what happens with that!
In the meantime, I'm taking six 200-level classes. Which, just about two weeks in, is already seeming like a very bad idea. I haven't slept in three days, and instead of catching up on sleep this weekend, I stayed up to watch a 4-hour movie for "Culture and Change: India," which I have to write a pretty short paper on. It's not the paper that bothers me-- it's that I had to stay up to watch a four-hour movie. And this is basically the idea of the class. So. I still have four essays to write, two books to finish, and my Cryptology assignments to do.
I don't mean for that to sound as whiny as it does, and if I were doing this any other semester besides this one, I would just push though it. But... well. I've been trying to get better about knowing when to stop myself with these sorts of things, and I think this is really a point at which I need to swallow my pride and... well. Take care of things. I was talking to Professor Fraser the other day-- I went to visit her in her office. It was really nice, to just sit down and have a long chat-- and she told me that she was proud and excited for me (things I think every student wants to hear from their favorite professor), but that I shouldn't feel like I need to push myself so hard this semester. She said that if I needed to drop a class, I'd still be able to graduate early, and it would be better than burning myself out just in time to get to Oxford. I also talked to one of my senior friends this morning... she told me she was worried when she heard how much I was taking, and that this wasn't the semester for me to "kill [my]self with work," as she puts it.
So, while it pains me to do so (and I mean that), I'm dropping "Culture and Change: India."
It's not that it's a difficult class, particularly, though perhaps I shouldn't judge after just two classes, but it's certainly problematic in terms of the timing and the set-up of the course in general. It is held on Tuesdays, from 7.00pm to 9.30pm. Not ideal, but if it were twice I week, I could deal with it. As it is, it is only held once a week, and we spend most of the time watching Bollywood movies. I have no interest, to be honest-- at least, not enough interest to spend all of my "free" time finishing the movies so I can write one-page papers on them. (Really. If I'm going to watch a four-hour movie, I'd better be doing it to write at least a four-page paper.) The way I see it, I can take it during my senior year, when I'll be able to take it with Sara and hopefully have a little energy back. In addition... while I really loved last semester, it was rough. And while I'm sure I'll love Oxford, I'm just as sure that it will be even rougher. So, as I've been told, it's not worth me burning myself out now. Maybe I need a bit of a lull.
Maybe I don't have to explain myself so much, though... I've found more and more that my expectations for myself far outstrip those of most of the adults in my life. It's bizarre. I know, intuitively, that just taking five classes is the best thing for me at this point-- honestly, there is no down-side to any of this-- but I still feel the urge to just push through the six classes. I'm extremely reluctant to admit defeat, I suppose. And so early in... but, I have to make the decision now. Monday is the last day I have to drop classes without it showing up on my transcript, and I know the situation would be even worse if I had to worry about that.
I hope all of that made sense... again, I haven't slept, so I apologize in advance for any unintelligible sentences.
But I'm making it sound as if the past few weeks have been nothing but angst... for the most part, things have been pretty good. Winter break felt very short comparred to last year, but it was far busier in general.
It's been nice to be back at Goucher, on the whole. Of course, there's everything I just spewed, and there's the typical drama of living with 1400-odd other people between the ages of 18 and 22, but really... it's been good. I may have already mentioned this, but one of my best friends, Sara, is studying abroad in Costa Rica this semester. I sort of expected to miss her, but... well. It's been difficult. We became very close last semester, and being without her is painful. I miss her. But I suppose the only thing to do is to keep busy-- which I've been doing. All of my classes (aside from the obvious one) are fantastic. Professor Beachy, the head of the History Department and my professor for Modern German History and Social Theory in Historical Context is just so fun to be taught by... our relationship thus far has basically consisted of making faces at each other during class, and talking about what courses I'm taking at Oxford this year. I also have Material Culture and England & Colonial America with Professor Sheller-- my advisor for the Historic Preservation minor. I've always liked her personally, but I have to say she's a much better history professor than historic preservation professor. We're reading Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, by David Hackett Fischer (whose name I know I have seen before somewhere, and frequently) among other things, though I'm finding this book particularly fascinating... I'm also taking Cryptology with Professor Lewand to take care of my math requirement, and I am loving it. It's very addictive, actually...
Otherwise, I've been trying to keep my social life together, really. I wish I could say that this is what has been keeping me busy, but most of it has consisted of getting together with my friends and doing homework while they goof off. Not that I'm complaining.
Well, more to come soon, hopefully! I'm off to try to take a nap before I try to get some of these papers done... my love to all!
Tasha
Tasha
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