The beginning of winter semester, 2010

Tess, this post is for you :)

I started school last Tuesday.  It was a bit of a surprise, because until Sunday night I thought it started on Monday, but I welcomed the opportunity to laze about in sweats all day, unbroken except for a visit to winco with Megan. 

So, for this post, I’ll just give a quick rundown of my classes and professors.

I’ve only been to basketball once.  It’s fun, as should be expected, although walking all the way across campus in shorts when it’s twelve degrees outside is not so much fun.  Swimming is great as well – it’s a relief to have my class in the evening, so I can have time to get ready before and after being in the pool.  We’ve only swum once, and it was frustrating because we weren’t given a set.  So, I think you (one of the parents) should write down sets for a few days and then send them to me, so I have some ready if we continue not getting specific workouts.  I knew two people in my swimming class – one girl from my PlSc 200 class last winter, and one from water polo.  Anyways, I like it.

National Security is a really cool class.  It requires a LOT of books, which is unfortunate because I don’t have a bottomless wallet or a timeturner, but I’m looking forward to reading them all.  Our class discussion is fascinating, of course, as Professor Hudson teaches the class.  Yesterday, we had a talk about the United State’s top national security interests.  She had three people come up and write their lists on the board and then defend them.  After seeing some normal issues, like China, nuclear security, and economic growth, I wish I’d raised my hand!  Here are a couple of my favorite national security issues (I  think they are important; I don’t know if anybody else does): political solidarity, security of information (including copyright issues and intelligence services), and satellite security.  I’m thinking about writing an article about political solidarity as an aspect of national security for BYU’s political review.  Another interesting fact: Condoleezza Rice is coming to give a forum tomorrow, and Professor Hudson was asked to have her students come up with good questions.  So we have that challenge, and we were told where the microphones will be.  :)  I haven’t thought of any questions, but if I do, I will know where to sit.

My geography class seems to include a lot of busywork, so far.  And the book is more important than coming to class.  Sigh.  Ah well.  Professor Otterstrom is very nerdy, which I appreciate, and my small class is fun.  We’ll have to see how it turns out.

Comparative politics is, so far, relying on knowledge I already have from other politics and history classes.  I just have to skim the chapters before the (daily) quizzes, and I do fine.  Usually I read the book during my geography class.  It’s started to get more interesting as we talk about different aspects of democracy, so I’m looking forward to the rest of the course.  Professor Preece is very enthusiastic.  She’s happy, really enjoys the subject, and has class activities that keep us involved (unusual in a class of 150+).  Today we discussed the difference between procedural and substantive democracy.

New Testament is awesome.  Professor Ogden has the best sense of dry humor, and is funny and a bit sarcastic while being completely kind and humble.  He started the first day of class off by discussing the spellings and pronunciations of some terms and names we might come across in our readings.  He was very adamant about the spelling, which made me happy.  We have to turn in a summary of the previous day’s class and our readings at each class, but so far I’ve found that helpful and easy rather than burdening.  

Finally, Spanish 106.  It's a pain doing all of the online homework, but otherwise it's not so bad.... except that I have this problem with 1:00 classes - I can't stay awake, no matter how well rested I am.  Urgh.  I'm working on that.  My teacher, Profesora Bean, is a grad student in Spanish linguistics, and she's very nice.  There are two males in the class, and the rest of us are girls.  We take turns doing the beginning of class, including opening song, prayer, and activity.  Mine was yesterday, and I had everyone play vocabulary charades.  

Well, that's all I have the energy to write about now.  I will post about Christmas break and my new job soon.

<3

Eliza