Hello again blogosphere!
I’ve really sunk my teeth into the Cornell experience.
I have been doing a lot of reading for the course. On that note, we have started our Freedom and Justice study group at school. We have had three meetings so far and all of them have been productive.
We have discussed St. Augustine and his “City of God,” as well as Plato’s “The Apology.” In both cases, we have done an in-depth analysis of each work and have posed several questions about the questions they ask in their works. These discussions have forced me to push my critical thinking boundaries.
At first I thought, “If this is what the class will be like, maybe it won’t be so bad.” But as we continued asking questions in our discussion, I realized I was completely mistaken. I had to pick apart each question and theory into pieces so small that they became entirely new discussions and debates. Mr. Wade and Mrs. Kaplan have been a great help to our studies. I have left each of these meetings with greater insight.
Along with the reading, I’ve also been working on arranging several tours for our trip. A few weeks ago, Mr. Ramsey requested that someone assist with handling these tours. At first, I was hesitant in volunteering to take on this responsibility. Despite this hesitance, I contacted Colgate University.
After realizing that I was capable of handling this task, I decided to challenge myself with scheduling the University of Rochester and Syracuse University visits. I arranged for campus tours at all three of these prestigious universities. I also arranged for tours of the Frederick Douglass Resource Center and the Susan B. Anthony House. After making these arrangements, I realized that my initial fear was irrational and that I was completely capable of doing these things from the beginning. I think I have begun learning a little bit about the business realm, due to all of the emails and telephone calls to these colleges and businesses. I know that these are extremely small steps, but I think that this will help me become more professional. This trip sounds like it’s going to be great.
So long for now. I’ll be back with more blogging action on Sunday. The Cornellians are getting together for a meeting concerning the blog, so I’ll be reporting in again soon.
Alex,
ReplyDeleteBeing the visionary that I am, I see a transition happening right before my eyes. I see a young kid turning into a young man with all of the skills and responsibilities that come part and parcel with being THE MAN.
We're all pleased that you're taking the reins and a position of leadership to organize your study groups, help set up the blog and arrange for your visits to the numerous schools the northeast is well known for.
I look forward to reading all of your blogs after you take your tours. You'll hear this from me many times between now and then, Alex, so think of this as an early indoctrination: Words are nice but words with photos are even nicer. Between now and the time you take off you all need to practice your photographic skills so you can post lots of photos with the wonderful words you write about these schools.