High Expectations

I'm one of those people with high expectations. Not just for myself, but in many aspects of life. Movies, books, classes, ect. This tends to lead me on, ending (usually) in disappointment. So when my adviser told me, in regards to my Mass Media and Society class, to "just do what you can and get out," I knew not to expect as much of it as I would have. Which is probably why I was so impressed by the end of the class period.

He began by showing us the blog our class has--forget D2L, forget paper syllabus. He made us a blog so he can post videos and google docs for us. And then he began to tell us the main point behind the first book we will read. The medium of our information. He is adamant that getting our information from a book or newspaper is better for us on some very deep level than from a screen. Not that the information is better ("SCREW the information!"), but the paper, the act of reading a book is better than reading from a screen (like an e-reader, thus making us subscribe to the New York Times newspaper). I've never thought about that before. I just prefer the feel of a book, the pages, and yes, the smell of a book better than drawing my finger across a screen to read. He also told us a rather funny story about deleting his Facebook account (which is another goal-- to get at least some of us to delete our Facebook accounts). I am amazed at how difficult it is. You actually have to go to an outside source to learn how to do it. Anyway, he deleted it because he enjoyed it too much. It had become an addiction. If it weren't for being connected to my family through Facebook, I might just do it. Though. . . whatever happened to snail mail? I used to write to my aunt all the time. Am I making excuses?

Did I mention he is the youngest professor I've seen so far on this campus?

Okay, so what if he is supposed to be a big liberal? I've been around that before, and he doesn't seem the type to just ignore other people's opinions. But that's just my first impression. Besides, who cares what political stance he takes if he is already making me think more about his introduction to the class than I have for any class previously? I'm more excited for this class then I could have imagined.

His stance on using technology is probably what interests me the most. I've had teachers who are trying to do everything possible to integrate technology of all kinds into the classroom, from iPods to blogs. I always figured this would be a good idea, perhaps kids will relate to a class more when being taught through a medium they understand best. I'm not sure yet the extent my professor is for or against this. He doesn't 'believe in' PowerPoint, makes all (close to) 200 of us subscribe to the New York Times (and forbids us to read it online), and he strongly believes print is better for us than virtual anything. But he isn't even attempting to get us to give up the internet all together.

This class is going to be awesome.

Hopefully. Side note, he has a funny thing about using loose leaf paper. He said if he tells us to take out a piece of paper and he hears a riiiiiip noise, he is going to throw up all over the counter. So DON'T DO IT. Like I said, this is going to be interesting.

As for my other classes today; my first hour (Understanding Short Story) is canceled until next Wednesday. My professor is going to be gone. Which leaves my four o'clock class, Writing Creative Nonfiction 1. The teacher is from warmer climates, so she was quizzing us on what is the coldest it gets here, how long does it last, and what about the bugs? I have a few friends in that class that I met in Advanced Writing, and there is a guy from Alaska that is pretty funny; he was wearing shorts because our zero degree weather is a heat wave to him. I'm a little wary about this class; the teacher gave the impression of treating the subject almost formally, talking to us like she was briefing us on a (dare I say) five-paragraph essay that CAN NOT go wrong. She seemed nice too, though, so perhaps this was 'first day jitters.'

Tomorrow I have the next round of new classes. I'm looking forward to my British and World Drama class. I can't wait! It's been a long time since I've been this excited about going to class every day. . .