College: The Basics

So. I am officially At College. I have moved into my dorm room, attended multiple orientation events, and am poised to actually start classes tomorrow.

Which probably means that I should put the basics down here before anything else of note happens. (Hence the title.)

Let's start with my schedule.

Natural History of Infectious Diseases - "Did you ever wonder why Jewish grandmothers who make gefilte fish from Norwegian sturgeon so frequently are parasitized by tapeworms? Maybe not, but who gets parasitized, when, and by what is highly significant to understanding the history of humankind. In this seminar we will read and think about the failure of modern (Western) medicine to eliminate most of the tropical diseases of Homo sapiens."

Monday, Wednesday: 9:00 - 10:20 (AM)

Philosophy, Relativism, and Truth - "Is there such a thing as "objective" or "absolute" truth? Or is everything "relative" to a particular individual, culture, language, or conceptual scheme? What is truth, anyway? In this course, we will examine the nature of truth, knowledge, and value and consider a range of challenges to the idea of "objective" or "absolute" truth."

Monday, Wednesday: 1:00 - 2:20 (PM)

Queering the Renaissance - "Since the nineteenth century, the Italian Renaissance is believed to be the birthplace of the modern "individual." Decades ago, feminist and social historians have pointed to the gendered nature of such individualism, and to family and kinship bonds within which the male self was allowed to thrive. While the male dominated public and private spheres created homo-social environments within which "sodomy" flourished, relationships between women were relegated to convents. This course will explore issues of self-identity in a period that, to contemporary observers, can seem hauntingly familiar and irrevocably foreign at the same time." This class is also what's called a tutorial--the instructor is my academic advisor for this year, and it's designed to get us used to the differences between Hampshire classes and our high school courses. (I have also told some of you that it's a year-long class. I lied. Sorry.)

Tuesday, Thursday: 9:00 - 10:20 (AM)

The Good Story - "How do narratives function? What are the elements that combine to create that most elusive of forms, a "good story"? This course will address these and other questions in an effort to provide students interested in the humanities and arts (including fiction and non-fiction writing, theater, and film) with the fundamental skills necessary for analyzing and creating successful narratives. Close readings will seek to reveal how writers are able to grip an audience's attention by building narrative questions, how plots are structured both within scenes and across an entire work, how resonant dialogue can effectively manage to impart information and create subtext, and how characters relate to plot."

Tuesday: 12:30 - 3:20 (PM)

Now: dorm life. (Also, where to send presents.)

I do, in fact, have a single. It is fairly small, but it's not unduly cramped, and holds all my stuff without bursting at the seams. My desk is rather cluttered at the moment, but that's my fault. I'll clean it up soon. Probably.

More specifically, I'm located in Merrill B, room 102, for those who want to know.

However, unless you're going to visit before the end of the fall semester, that's a little beside the point. If you want to send me letters or packages, you'd address them to my P.O. box at Hampshire. (#204)

So the address you need to know is as follows:

Annie Taylor

PO Box 204

Hampshire College

893 West St

Amherst, MA 01002

ETA: You can also reach me by way of the less complicated address:

Annie Taylor

893 West St #204

Amherst, MA 01002

In other news, though orientation is now over, the certainly kept us hopping while it lasted. Mostly there were discussions with our "orientation group" (that is, the people in our tutorial led by two student leaders) about ourselves, our new life at Hampshire, etc. My tutorial group seems like a bunch of well-meaning, quirky people; I look forward to getting to know them better. Our student leaders were also quite nice, and very welcoming.

And occasionally, when they couldn't come up with more discussions for us to have, there were other activities. For instance, one day was devoted to an "interest group" that we had signed up for. I picked fencing, and so I got to spend a cumulative four and a half hours learning foil (as opposed to epee, which I've done previously), doing lots of drills, and getting gross and sweaty. (Other options included DIY clothing, mask-making, and a variety of less physical, gross-making activities.)

More recently, there were several optional activities available during a lull in discussions, one of which was rock climbing. There, I got to learn how to properly "tie-in" (that is, how to tie the knot that secures you to the rope that supports you in the event of a fall, and/or while rappelling down the wall after a successful climb) and how to belay (that is, being on the other end of the rope that the climber is secured to and making sure that they're safe in the event of a fall, and/or while rappelling down after a successful climb).

Consequentially, I'm now semi-committed to attending the fencing club and perhaps learning saber as well, and visiting the rock wall as often as possible. (In other words, doing more sporty things more frequently than I'm used to.)

Sighhh. It's a good thing there's no limit on the amount of showers you can take per day.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for: the food review.

I have an unlimited meal plan (as do all first years), so I get to enjoy the edible creations of the cafeteria as often as I'd like. Which, while it allows for the possibility of overindulgence, probably will not result in it. The cafeteria food is adequate, but I'm already missing home-cooked meals.

Oh well. That's what holiday breaks are for.

And thus concludes this exciting installment of Annie's Life: The College Years. To summarize: Nothing particularly interesting has happened so far. But the moment it does, I'll be sure to write all about it.

Until next time!