It's official... this semester will be the most challenging of my undergraduate career! At least I am able to say it came while in England, right? Surprisingly though, I'm not very stressed about it -- while it was a shock how much the English expect from their students first term, I am now trying to think about it positively and consider that if I put in the work the professors suggest, I will actually be far more prepared than having taken the same courses while in the states. Again, classes mostly consist of no busy work, but rather loads of independent studying, in-class discussion with little lecturing from the professors, and major mid-term and final essays. I believe out of six classes, I will only have three final exams at the end of the school year, so that's a bonus, but it means I have to put forth all I've got when it comes to the essays!
This term, my schedule is as follows:
Monday: The Literature of Terror
Tuesday: Language, Self, and Society (lecture)
Wednesday: Women in Latin American Narrative and Film
Thursday: Language, Self, and Society (seminar)
I absolutely love all of them so far. The Literature of Terror is something I would be a little extra excited about if it included works past the Victorian era, as texts from that time have always been quite difficult for me to get into. Although, since it also doesn't include works from earlier years, I was beyond happy to learn that I wouldn't have to read Frankenstein for the fourth time in four years! The course covers the rise in Victorians' interest in terror and the supernatural. While the material may prove difficult, the class is very talkative and fun, and the seminar leader enthusiastic, so it's definitely two hours of my week that I look forward to. Last week I quickly worked through the original novel-version of Sweeney Todd since I had to lead the class discussion about it, along with a few other girls. This week, I'm a few chapters into A Tale of Two Cities. Fortunately, I already had a few of the required texts for the course, so I was able to save some money.
The Language, Self, and Society course is quite different from any I've taken while at university. Apparently, there was a course last term that transitioned into this one, and all of the students, aside from me, were in it together, so I felt a little awkward the first day, but I've found that once people notice that you're American, curiosity easily leads to conversation. The class will cover several concepts, including how we, as different cultures, view the world due to the influence of our native language, as well as bilingualism, the dying out and revival of certain languages, and politically correct terms. As I'm the oddball, I've already been asked to pronounce a few words (Professor: "How do you say "G-I-R-L?" Me: "Girl." Class: "Hahaha!") with my "midwestern American accent" so it can be compared to the various British accents. (Most Americans stress the "R" in the word "girl" whereas the Brits don't.)
Lastly is Women in Latin American Narrative and Film. Each week, we are assigned two or three movies to watch that have been directed by women and that typically revolve around stories where women are the main characters. Last week, the focus was on Maria Luisa Bemberg, an Argentine director, whose movies I loved! They included Yo, La Peor de Todas, Camila, and Miss Mary. She worked with true stories (one even used inspiration from her own childhood) about societal issues in a certain time period in Latin American countries, and showed those issues through personalized stories of women at that time. Yes, the movies are done in Spanish (this week, Portuguese) -- so I'm hoping this might help to strengthen my Spanish speaking skills. The young and upbeat professor for the course is, I believe, from Peru and even lectured at Yale. We are to focus on all aspects of the film, which is something new to me, never having taken a film course -- everything from the plot itself to the visual language, costumes, historical context, setting, and characters.
As intriguing as all of these classes are, I am beginning the semester with little motivation. Leigh Anne and I met up for dinner a few nights ago and discussed traveling during the semester, which always tends to brighten things up and cause me to work ahead, knowing I have something to look forward to. We're looking into Ireland for St. Patrick's Day and maybe something equally brilliant before then. Paris? Scotland? Germany? Belgium? Prague? So many options, so little time!
And although I'm struggling to break out the books now, I'm already considering doing one more semester of school when I return, in order to get a double major in Women's Studies. I feel very lost not filling out scholarship applications and planning my next semester this time of year. I am a bit torn on what to do at the moment. I plan to be in the area, for a bit anyway, so taking a few more classes seems sensible, right? But I was planning to start a full-time, grown-up job upon my return. Sigh. I highly doubt I'm going to come across a letter in the mail or receive a phone call anytime soon that gives me all of the answers, so it comes down to some serious thinking and decision-making over the next few weeks...
I hope this finds you well, and on a path that makes you happy. If not, it's never too late to move onto another :)
Love,
Aly
P.S. -- I apologize for the lack of pictures, but there's not been much interesting to take as of late!
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