porch posse, i miss you
So much feels different and new now that I’m back in Beloit. I see the potential for the “sophomore slump” but am too excited by the thigns going on around me to see myself going down that path. Having established my roots on campus last year, I can really begin to develop the collegiate experience.
To begin, my classes all promise to be interesting, with quite a bit of overlap. Coming into the semester I was short one class, so I added a credit of first year Chinese with lǎoshī Róng Xīn (professor Shin Yong), the same woman that taught Chinese calligraphy last semester. I’m also taking Middle Kingdom in Transition, a class that will only be offered once in Beloit’s history. It focuses on the development of Chinese art and culture. The class can only be offered this semester due to a confluence of different campus events, including shows at the Wright Museum, some research on Hmong textiles done by Beloiters, and the presence of renowned Chinese poet and dissident Bei Dao on campus. I’m also taking Understanding Rzeligious Traditions in a Global Context with one of my favorite professors, Natalie Gummer. It promises to be a good class with lots of interesting discussion; we started our second class with a little secular ritual. The entire class stood around the edge of the room. One person poured water into a basin over the hands of the person standing behind them then dried them with a towel and went to the end of the line. The person who just had their hands washed and dried then did the same to the person behind them. We repeated this until everyone had both washed and been washed. We were all silent the entire time. What chills!
Last is a night class with lunatiuc/genius English professor Lisa Wright. It’s a critical theory class on stucturalism and post-scrtucturalism called Escaping Oedipus. On top of all of that I have the radio station board, Coughy Haus programming board (where we pick bands to play at the campus pub), rowing, water polo, various other clubs, and some shade of a social life. My plate is quite full.
I’m also living in a new place. My new room is in Brannon (the dorm next to the one I lived in last year) that I share with a Chemistry major named Derek. He’s shy, but we’ve been hanging out a lot together and enjoying one anbother’s company. There are also lots of new friends and people who I had never knew exixsted, something that, despite the small campus, happens often.
All in all, things have been working out really well: I have a cushy room, I got a real cool old bike for FIVE BUCKS, the weather in Beloit has been gorgeous, I’m busy but managed to write decent ammounts of sleep into my schedule. That’s about all for now. I’ll keep you posted as events unfold.
All my love,
Sam
To begin, my classes all promise to be interesting, with quite a bit of overlap. Coming into the semester I was short one class, so I added a credit of first year Chinese with lǎoshī Róng Xīn (professor Shin Yong), the same woman that taught Chinese calligraphy last semester. I’m also taking Middle Kingdom in Transition, a class that will only be offered once in Beloit’s history. It focuses on the development of Chinese art and culture. The class can only be offered this semester due to a confluence of different campus events, including shows at the Wright Museum, some research on Hmong textiles done by Beloiters, and the presence of renowned Chinese poet and dissident Bei Dao on campus. I’m also taking Understanding Rzeligious Traditions in a Global Context with one of my favorite professors, Natalie Gummer. It promises to be a good class with lots of interesting discussion; we started our second class with a little secular ritual. The entire class stood around the edge of the room. One person poured water into a basin over the hands of the person standing behind them then dried them with a towel and went to the end of the line. The person who just had their hands washed and dried then did the same to the person behind them. We repeated this until everyone had both washed and been washed. We were all silent the entire time. What chills!
Last is a night class with lunatiuc/genius English professor Lisa Wright. It’s a critical theory class on stucturalism and post-scrtucturalism called Escaping Oedipus. On top of all of that I have the radio station board, Coughy Haus programming board (where we pick bands to play at the campus pub), rowing, water polo, various other clubs, and some shade of a social life. My plate is quite full.
I’m also living in a new place. My new room is in Brannon (the dorm next to the one I lived in last year) that I share with a Chemistry major named Derek. He’s shy, but we’ve been hanging out a lot together and enjoying one anbother’s company. There are also lots of new friends and people who I had never knew exixsted, something that, despite the small campus, happens often.
All in all, things have been working out really well: I have a cushy room, I got a real cool old bike for FIVE BUCKS, the weather in Beloit has been gorgeous, I’m busy but managed to write decent ammounts of sleep into my schedule. That’s about all for now. I’ll keep you posted as events unfold.
All my love,
Sam