I have reached my final blogpost. I thought I would be relieved to write this, but am surprised at my reluctance. During the class time dedicated to reading blogposts, I was searching for something to reflect upon. I had the thought to look back on my own posts and see if I could recognize my own progress. It was in my own blogposts that I found what I was looking for.
Who Knew Stats Could be Profound?
Yesterday I was reading my statistics textbook and came across a quote. I often overlook the little blurbs of speech, but happened to read this one. I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of statistical jargon, and even more surprised that my statistics textbook got me thinking deeply about life. The quote was…
Grown-ups love figures. When you tell them you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, “What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?” Instead they demand: “How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much does his father make?” Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him
-Saint Exupery
LIFEboat
Earlier this week, my dad was texting me about a situation I have going on within my close friend group. He thinks I may be too involved in certain situations, which I cannot disclose due to confidentiality. However, he gave me an analogy that I have been thinking about a lot. He said “someone once explained it to me as fitting your friends on a lifeboat. You can fit a certain capacity. If you stay within that capacity, you can all make it to shore. That may mean you have to leave some behind. If you take on too much capacity, you all capsize, and no one makes it to shore.”
This Really Happens?
It is easy to fall into the trap of feeling like we are above tragedy. On the other hand, it is easy to spend excessive energy awaiting tragedy, coming up with endless scenarios in your head. I tend to identify more with the former. Of course, I have worried about tragedy happening, thinking a headache is a tumor and such, but I usually dismiss the intrusive thoughts with a “that would never happen to me” kind of thing.
The Comfort of Certainty
When I was younger, I would do whatever I could to miss school. I’m guilty of faking a few stomach aches or head aches for a day home. However, the older I get, the more I do to avoid missing school. Sure I still get exhausted and bored with school, but I would rather push through that exhaustion than miss a class and have to wonder what I missed. That is, there’s a lot I would risk to avoid uncertainty.
Community Customs
This spring break I am lucky enough to be able to travel to Ireland. It is incredible to experience a different culture’s customs. One thing I have picked up on is the partnership between community members, and where superior institutions intervene.
Conduct Code or Moral Code?
I’ll never forget how Dr Leonard Sancilio (Dean of Students) summed up Geneseo students. He said that what sets a Geneseo student apart is they will almost always hold the door open for you. I was surprised to learn that this is actually a breach in security. Dr Beth McCoy recognized Geneseo’s reputation for holding the door open, but also pointed out that in the faculty training, they were told not to do this.
“Running in A Cage”
While reading our second section of Bloodchild by Octavia Butler, I came across a phrase that struck me. Gan and Qui were discussing the event that changed Qui’s perspective on Tlic. I am still unsure as to what the Tlic’s role is with the grubs and Terrans, but I get the idea that the Tlic’s choose a Terran as a host for the grubs, which may be part of the process of Tlic birth. Page 18 reveals that one of Terran’s roles in the partnership with Tlics is to create them in their bodies (that is a weird way to put it but that’s the most accurate way I can with the information so far). Anyway, Qui was telling Gan about a past incident he witnessed where the grubs ate a man (page 21). This scarred Qui, and is what lead to him attempting to run away so many times, as Gan pointed out. Qui responds by saying “Yeah. Stupid. Running in the Preserve. Running in a cage.”(page 21). Continue reading ““Running in A Cage””
More Than Just a Student
John Madsen made a comment in his blog about not understanding the point of continuously going over our names in the first few classes. Like John, I felt this activity was redundant, and not the best use of time, but only at first.
During my academic career, I have been conditioned to think that teachers are more concerned with spending time focused on course curriculum than focusing time on learning about the student body. Continue reading “More Than Just a Student”
Callous Curriculum
“You won’t be able to get away with this in college.” I knew college would be different than high school; my teachers have been making comments like this for years. However, they made it seem as if it being a student was going to become a death-sentence once I reached college. Much to my surprise, I have never felt so liberated as a student. Continue reading “Callous Curriculum”