Snow Days and Schedules

            So, it’s back to the old routine of fitting everything into the schedule. First come the classes. Then the labs. Then the sections. Then the extra-curriculars. Then the study time and meals. And then the breaks and socializing, if there’s any time left. That remains to be seen.

            I wouldn’t say classes started gradually, but they came in staggered waves, so I had more time to spend with friends. This meant a lot of dinner meetings and a Super Bowl party with my a cappella group (the girls’ chatting was punctuated with the occasional “Yes! YES!” and “no, No, NO!” from the other side of the room). And my a cappella group also sang at the church I attend here which was pretty cool. Everyone couldn’t come, so I ended up soloing for one of my favorite songs. Afterwards I went to a kick-off event with Cru and got to help out and meet new people. It was a great evening.

            It’s been kind of crazy lately, scheduling wise. I’m still not sure when my ROTC class is; we’ve changed it about three times, and I think it’s still in flux. I don’t know when my physics lab time is, but that notification could be coming soon. And we haven’t set a cappella rehearsal times yet, but I’m hoping they’ll be better than last semester’s. Keep your fingers crossed.

            On the other hand, the work is all rolling is as if it were the middle of the year already. We’re starting to plan out policy papers for my National Security of Middle Eastern Countries seminar, and I’ve already finished my first physics p-set. ROTC starts with a lab at 6:30 tomorrow morning, although class is delayed by a week while we figure out which day it’s on. And in Hebrew we’ve picked up where we left off last semester; we’re now studying history and reading selections from Altnueland (not in German – in Hebrew).

            I had Expository Writing (Expos) for the first time yesterday. Now, if you don’t already know this, I love writing and literature. I want to be a good story teller, and I understand the importance of effective communication on all levels and how essential that is to making a difference in the world. Still, spending half an hour on a nine-word sentence seems a little much. I doubt it took Jane Austen that long to write it.

            I don’t enjoy writing and painstakingly revising essays, but I’ve done it before, and there is an immense satisfaction that comes with looking at a piece of writing and knowing that it’s well-crafted. But I can’t write for writing’s sake. As horrible as it would be to have an important idea and not be able to express it, I think it’s much worse to speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have nothing to say. Thus, writing about how someone else writes isn’t really my forte.

Still, I am convinced that in every aspect of life, whether it be a philosophical treatise, a novel, or a calculus textbook, we can catch a glimpse of the enduring truths that define the universe, that all connect somehow to the One who gives them significance. And so I will sit and talk about one semi-colon for half my Expos class and then dive into the reading to see what truth I can glean. And when I find that truth, I will want to write.

Okay, diatribe over. As you can tell, I haven’t exactly figured out my thesis yet. I’ll let you know if I find one. In the meantime, I’m trying to deal with the constant dings and rings that tell me people are emailing and texting me more things to add to my to-do list. The semester has barely started, and already I want a break. Though this week is better than last week, now that I’m past the rough adjustment from vacation at home to work at school.

I know I’m not the only one who sometimes thinks that school is interrupting the learning process. I enjoy studying – I do. At the moment, I spend most of my free time memorizing Hebrew vocabulary; I’ve made it into a sort of mind-game, and I look forward to playing. (It wasn’t assigned; I started over the break.) If there weren’t so many deadlines, I would probably feel the same way about Jane Austen and Herzl and Physics and National Security in the Middle East. As it is, I think to myself at least once a day, “Wouldn’t it be lovely if I could devote a few years to just studying…?” And then I wonder what exactly has gone wrong.

Not that I think there’s much to be done about it; that’s how life is. If you need to service large numbers of people, and you need to be able to tell how much they’ve learned, and if not everyone is terribly self-motivated, you need an education system that does things this way. And I appreciate all the efforts that go into allowing me to do this; this is probably as close to ideal as things get in this life.

And so it’s really up to the student; like so many things in college, it’s a choice. Go equation-hunting or actually learn the theory in Physics? Scribble off the assignments or actually learn the language in Hebrew? Scrape by and meet the requirements or try to grow as a person in college? And though it isn’t always easy – in fact, I can’t remember a time when it was – the answer is pretty obvious.

Make it count.

 

PS: These were taken yesterday, during the milder snowstorm. Can you spot the squirrel?