Life and Academics, or Academics=Life

I have the good fortune, this semester, of being able to take classes that I am for the most part very interested in. I know some people build their schedule around required courses, to "get them out of the way", and that may be an advisable plan, but I find that I am a better student when I am able to invest myself in what I'm learning about, which usually happens when I'm passionate about what I'm studying.

On the agenda for this semester: Global Political Ecologies, Imagination in Motion, Cell Biology, Creative Nonfiction, Nature Writing, and, of course, First Year Seminar. This semester in Seminar, we read Hamlet, Don Giovanni, Pride and Prejudice, and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. I am still incredulous and overjoyed at the fact that I am going to a school that *requires* all its First Year Students to read one of my favorite books--Pride and Prejudice. I am pretty excited about everything else on the list as well.

Global Political Ecologies was a late addition--I made it into the course only after begging the teacher in person and showing up to the first class, add form in hand. I can already sense that this class is going to be the cause of much frustration, exhaustion and exhilaration over the course of this semester. I wrestled with the Introduction to the textbook (at left) for two days straight, with it taking me approximately an hour to read through three pages. Nevertheless, my efforts have already paid off. Although I started this course with little understanding of what Global Political Ecology is, it is starting to sound like my life's calling. It unites ecology, and a connection with and concern for the environment, with social science based analytical methods, and the results have strong implications for political structure and policy formation. It is also impossible to describe in words that are not multisyllabic. I had to look up at least 22 words from the Introduction alone.

Feeling more grounded this semester has so far allowed me to really focus on academics, a trend that I hope will continue, since doing homework last minute is neither profitable nor enjoyable. But this renewed focus has also paid its dividends--I have time for other pursuits, including physical exercise and independent writing, both of which fell by the wayside during my first semester. I have been to the gym at least every other day since I've been back, and it feels wonderful.  I have gone to sleep before 12 most nights, a remarkable accomplishment in college-land, if I do say so myself. I have to keep a writer's journal for my course in Creative Nonfiction, an assignment I accepted with gusto. Hopefully the fact that it is required for class will make me less likely to neglect it, which is what happens every time I have tried to keep one on my own.

Also, did I mention that I am almost, if not entirely, free of Facebook? It's a wonderful feeling.