Another Busy Day!

Each evening when I reflect upon the day, I find it hard to remember what events occurred just a few hours before. This may be due to my poor memory and exhaustion, but the more likely theory is that my days are packed with activities. Since I arrived in New York just over one week ago, I have probably done more than the average person does in a month. From college tours, to class discussions, homework, and reaching out socially, I have had nearly no time to rest. I am so tried, but somehow the excitement of being in the city keeps me going.

Today our class consisted mostly of lecturing. First Luke went over the Supreme Court cases, which we were assignment to read the night before.  Then we discussed the workings the United States government. The intricate framework of the legal system in the United States makes our government very inefficient. As a class, we debated weather liberty and democracy must hold the burden of inefficiency, or if our government could change without threating the rights and liberties of it’s people. We concluded that the United States government, with its system of checks and balances, would always be inefficient. There could be no change that would both greatly increase the efficiency of the government without undermining the basic principles upon which the United States was founded.

During lunch, Margaret, Simon, and I were able to spend some very productive time in the library completing homework assignments. As we dive deeper into the course, I realize that our workload will greatly increase. Our two-hour lunch break is the perfect time to get work done and enable us to experience more of New York in the evenings without neglecting to complete assignments.

Speaking of experiencing New York, I went on an outing to Soho this evening. Unfortunately, the RA who led the trip didn’t realize that most of the shops would be closed by the time we were scheduled to arrive. The shops that were open were either too expensive or too bizarre for us to enjoy looking inside of them. The trip, however, was a success in that we were able to successfully navigate ourselves around an unfamiliar place in New York. Although we were loosely guided by the RAs, it was mainly our responsibility to find our way back to Columbia safely. We succeeded in doing this. I now feel much more confident in navigating the city!