Utlimate "Looking Back" Project

One of my professors is requiring our entire class to create a repertoire list of everything we have read in our college career. This includes books read over the summer as well as impacting works of literature that we may want to include from high school. Can I just say that this list is not only long but crazy! I mean, can you remember everything you have read in the past few years? So today I spent about an hour in the department office looking through syllabi's past and reminiscing about conversations we had in class, books I found interesting, stories I fell asleep to, things like that :)

It has actually been kind of fun to make this list. Once we have all of our books, they need to be organized into genres. This allows us to see where the gaps in our literature education exist and give us a basis on which to create a well informed reading list for the future! So far I am need of reading more of the American Novel and I need to read the Harry Potter series (tehehe). Overall, this has been a really neat exercise in mapping my education and in coming to understand what works have shaped the way I perceive my world.

Looking Back Part III

Saturday morning I attended the Senior Brunch for the Literature Department. The experience was very touching and (I'll admit it on a blog) I shed a few tears. My professors and peers all came together to commemorate our accomplishments and to look forward to the future. Some students shared works they had written, senior projects they had completed and everyone got some good laughs when Dr. Lescart (our French professor) and Dean Nelson (our Professor of Journalism) took center stage. We played "are you smarter than a graduating senior," and then the faculty surprised each graduating senior with a book that was hand picked for that student and signed by the Literature faculty members. It was very touching (that was the part where I cried). Reading the parting words my professors wrote for me was encouraging. I have made such deeply running connections with the people here; I know I can come back or write to any of them if ever I am in need of their advice or friendship.

Looking Back Part II

Here I am looking back again. I was thinking a lot this week about the different ways in which Point Loma has shaped my skills and abilities through my experiences here. My sophomore year was a big challenge and growth time for me as a Resident Assistant in Nease Hall. For the first time I was in charge of a big group of people (24) who needed me to take on a role of leadership, of an effective communicator, of a friend... the experience ushered in an amazing opportunity for me to learn from the girls on my floor. Junior year was a wild ride as well. My friends and I got a house together and for the first time I my work went to paying rent. It was a difficult but awesome and independent time for me. Traveling to Argentina during that second semester altered my world perspective and most definitely contributed to my sense of independence and ability to provide for as well as take care of myself.

This year was just hard work. Taking 17 units and working is just plain hard. And this final semester has been challenging in that, in addition to school, you have to plan on what you will be doing May 17th (the day after graduation). I have to say though, that everything I have gained through the years, responsibilty and effective communication skills, independence, have all made this graduating thing a lot easier to deal with.