Blogging Break

Another week, and another week dominated by schoolwork and test-prep. Such is the life of a career student, I have come to learn.

School is going well; well, if not exhausting. I am beginning to think that I was under the influence of something when I decided it would be a great idea to take six hours in a five-week period.

My Human Growth & Development (HGD) class is really interesting. I am learning that there are myriad of ways to screw up young minds. :) My professor is an interesting woman - she teaches at two campuses, and is a clinical counselor as well. I appreciate that she illuminates certain topics with anecdotes from her clients. I also appreciate that she has charisma in spades, and therefore, can hold my attention for the four hours that I am in her class. The caveat is that she is a talker...which means that she frequently gets off-topic, as talkers are wont to do. For example, we have 1.5 class periods between Test 1 and Test 2. The first .5 of a class consisted of about 45 minutes of test-related material, with the rest of the class devoted to talking about the ramifications of co-sleeping, and whether or not certain types of corporal punishment constitute child abuse (for the record - only slapping the buttocks with an open palm is OK!) I'm all for getting off-topic, but when you only meet 10 times for the semester, off-topic can be a huge impediment to being prepared for an impending test.

Just call me a party pooper.

My Psych class is a bit more of a challenge for me. I can comprehend the material easily, and am caught up with reading material. My main beef is my professor.

In my opinion, there is a certain divinity in being a human being. I believe that human beings are special, unique and glorious creations. I believe that the brain of a human being is a marvelous, mystical thing.

My professor, on the other hand, does not. He maintains that, since homo sapiens are so genetically similar to most all other species, that we are not very special. He believes that our brains are just like the brains of all other animals, differing only in size and certain sensory reception functions. He also believes that environment plays little to no role in who we are as human beings...in other words, your destiny lies completely within your genetic makeup.

I often leave his class feeling very down and disheartened. Not only do I vehemently disagree with his theories (however grounded in science they may be), but I also find that I am hyper-critical of him specifically because of that fact. Don't get me wrong - he's a nice guy, and funny as anyone - but I just can't help but wonder why he doesn't see the incredible in being a human being on this planet.

He's not clinically depressed, and he's certainly not the most cynical person I have known...we just differ greatly in our perception of this experience of life. I have to remind myself every day that 1) these are just his THEORIES, and 2) I will come out of the class with a much better foundation for my belief system, since I will have spent five weeks trying to justify MY theories against his. In simpler terms: no pressure, no diamond. As a good friend has pointed out to me a few times, faith without test isn't really faith at all.

This week will be a little less intense, I think - no dual tests on the same day. Instead, there's only one test, over 4 chapters, and one of the chapters will be covered in the lecture AFTER the test. If it doesn't sound fair, that's because there is little fairness in six hours in five weeks. :) But I'm not complaining. Really.

My other "stressor" right now is our move, which is looming at the end of these next two weeks. Don't get me wrong - I will be soooo glad to get out of a rental situation and into an equity situation. HOWEVER, the idea of having to keep up my demanding reading schedule and help pack up an entire household is daunting, to say the very least. I have my closet packed, with the exception of my clothes and shoes, but aside from that, we have not yet begun to fight.

This last paragraph is a reminder to myself that I need to blog about two profound experiences I have had lately - I shall refer to them here as NOLA band, and dancing. When the reading subsides a bit, or when I am in desperate need of a break, I'll share them here.

Back to the books.