I am really enjoying my life in Columbia! Who knew I would be having this much fun and enjoying myself while taking a summer course? Most people do not associate summer course and fun, but this is the truth, I swear it! Honestly many people from my school do not apply to this program because they don't want to "ruin there summer with work" or something like that, but that is simply not the case. I want to tell the kids back home and the community that sure this is a lot of work, it is a college course, but it is worth it. It is an amazing experience that we may never have the fortune of experiencing ever again. I think this is a once in a lifetime chance and we must all spring forward for it. I wish I had tried harder when I was a rising junior to get into this program, because this has honestly changed my life.
I have been thinking about this all day, I am so much more comfortable talking to others. I can speak to my professor about the topic I want for my research paper, I talk to the people on the elevator to my dorm floor, and I talk to everyone in my class. I am not the most outspoken person so this is a big improvement for me. I have changed so much and I can see that. My maturity level has increased by far because I would not have been able to have a conversation with a college professor ever before. I am really liking this new found confidence and ability to believe in myself and my ability. I know that many of these kids, honestly, can afford to spend thousands on this program that I can't, but they are just like me. They are not anything special and they are not above me. We all begin with the same abilities and it depends on us to shape those abilities to help us in the future.
Let's get back from my rant and to the school day, shall we? Today in class, for the first hour, we spoke about Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase. I understood this article since I had previous knowledge about this point in history and I really liked it. Our professor randomly calls on people to answer the questions but there is no punishment if we get the question wrong or if we do not know the answer. I enjoy that because it takes some of the pressure off of a person. We also went over the proper research methods and how it is better to use primary sources than secondary. Primary are accounts from the time period, sometimes from people from that time period, while secondary are articles written about that time period by people like historians. I do not remember ever learning about primary and secondary sources so this was really interesting.
Last thing I did today was take a trip with the RA's to Serendipity's. I had not planned to go, but I realized I did not have much work to do and so we were off. We had an hour wait, but New York City is beautiful in the evening so it was worth it. Today was also my first New York thunderstorm experience! It is something else! I have never experienced a thunderstorm in the summer so this was a change. I am not sure how much I like it but it's different. We got soaked but we made it back in one piece which is all that counts. There was not that much rain but it was a lot for me, and there was a lot of lightning. It was a little scary but it was not that bad! I am really loving life at Columbia University as of now!
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