The excitement at the beginning of this year is as intense as it was last, but for different reasons. The new freshmen are an outgoing group. I’m taking the time to go to extra meals today and tomorrow to meet and sit with as many new faces as possible. I had the last of my official orientation duties today, and now I’m free to study some Ptolemy for tomorrow. I’ll flip through the Genesis reading again before seminar tonight.
I discovered two of my new core group, and they’re both amiable and lovely people whom I already could call “friends.” Danny Osbourne lives on my floor this year, and Nora Edge is the first person with whom I can remember having a meal and conversation at St. John’s College. For those who don’t know, what’s called a “core group” is a group of two to six students who share the same academic schedule for the year. Last year I had Michael, Maggie, AnnMarie, and Jeana, whom I mentioned periodically in my posts. I expect there will only be one other who has our schedule.
My tutors, it seems, are in the gray area of likeability. One of them is notoriously disliked by most, another is generally a mysterious character, one does not have English as a native tongue and is sometimes difficult to understand, and the other two are beloved among most students. Without consideration of reputations and peer expectations, I’m excited about my classes. I’m excited to be reading Ptolemy again. I don’t think my papers on him were as strong as they could have been (though they were long) and I need to pay careful attention to the text, but I did spend much more time on Ptolemy than most people in my class last year. He’s fresh on my mind, the length of summer notwithstanding.
I cannot begin to guess what we will discuss in seminar this evening. The reading is Genesis 1-11. Let the words of God go forth.
Off to lunch, which I’m only eating at because freshmen will be there.
Toodles.
I discovered two of my new core group, and they’re both amiable and lovely people whom I already could call “friends.” Danny Osbourne lives on my floor this year, and Nora Edge is the first person with whom I can remember having a meal and conversation at St. John’s College. For those who don’t know, what’s called a “core group” is a group of two to six students who share the same academic schedule for the year. Last year I had Michael, Maggie, AnnMarie, and Jeana, whom I mentioned periodically in my posts. I expect there will only be one other who has our schedule.
My tutors, it seems, are in the gray area of likeability. One of them is notoriously disliked by most, another is generally a mysterious character, one does not have English as a native tongue and is sometimes difficult to understand, and the other two are beloved among most students. Without consideration of reputations and peer expectations, I’m excited about my classes. I’m excited to be reading Ptolemy again. I don’t think my papers on him were as strong as they could have been (though they were long) and I need to pay careful attention to the text, but I did spend much more time on Ptolemy than most people in my class last year. He’s fresh on my mind, the length of summer notwithstanding.
I cannot begin to guess what we will discuss in seminar this evening. The reading is Genesis 1-11. Let the words of God go forth.
Off to lunch, which I’m only eating at because freshmen will be there.
Toodles.
No comments:
Post a Comment