Life's been noisy recently.
2009 has been an interesting year, to say the least, and it's rapidly coming to a close. Rochester welcomed December and winter with a 2-inch blanket of snow sometime between 2 a.m. and 9 a.m. this morning, and next week is the last week of classes already.
There have been several interesting developments in recent weeks that have prompted moments of deep thought and consideration of what direction I'm moving towards. A month ago I tested my hand at coming up with innovative strategic business solutions at the Simon School of Business's
Undergraduate Case Competition, here at the University of Rochester. My team created a presentation based on an idea I had and that we all developed, and we
placed third, which was great, considering that none of us had participated in a case competition before that weekend. I met some new people; learned that I do, in fact, work well in teams where everyone is (mostly) committed to the project; and reaffirmed that I like to learn by doing, not by being told how to solve a particular problem.
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving my roommate Erica and I had the opportunity to be professional anthropologists for a day. We carpooled with three other UR anthropology students down to Corning, NY (arriving shortly after dawn...), to the
Corning Glass headquarters. Our official role was that of "ethnographic observer" for the Southern Tier portion of the Empire State STEM Progressive Dialogue. That's a fancy name for a series of dialogues organized to have businesspeople, teachers, and education administrators discuss how to enhance and expand science, technology, engineering, and math education in New York. And our title was a fancy way of saying we took notes (along with some real professionals from the
PAST Foundation) on said dialogue, which will be incorporated into various reports distributed at some future point in time. It was an interesting event, and I was engaged in what I was doing. Having attended private schools all of my life, it was sort of captivating to hear public school teachers and administrators talk about the problems they face trying to get any sort of legislative change pushed through. The day definitely brought out the passion and dedication of the teachers to get kids to truly
learn, but it simultaneously reminded everyone that bureaucracy is a way of life that we can't seem to get rid of (or at least make more efficient).
Yesterday was the last set of recitations for Theories of Religion (which I must admit makes me feel quite relieved). The other Theories Fellows and I had dinner at a
Chinese restaurant with Brooks this evening to discuss how the semester went and who we'd like to choose as Fellows for next year. We had a good conversation about the nature of religion programs (ours, in particular, of course), and vented a great deal about the frustrations of getting students to understand the course. Even after an entire semester, I felt like most of my students don't really understand what the
point of Theories is - and the other Fellows and Brooks agreed. It's basically about critical reading, reasoning, constructing and deconstructing arguments, and engaging in reflexive analysis of the theories and methods employed by any academic discipline, not just religion. We often talk in this department about why studying religion matters, and Brooks puts it so simply but so dead-on: "People die for this stuff." So yes, the content is important, but if you're like me and have no intention of becoming a "scholar of religion", the class is still immensely beneficial. When we were discussing our choices for next year's Fellows, I made a comment about how I still would have taken Theories even if it wasn't required for my minor, and our professor looks at me and says, "Well, that's because you're
you." That, in turn, led to a conversation about the type of student that excels in this sort of class and who is good at engaging others, and it made me appreciate my present company. We don't often see each other outside of class, and all of us are seniors hitting that point where we're starting to freak out about everything, but I think I realized today that we're not the average student.
Appreciation of the people in my life extends to all other areas of my life, too. This year was the first time in recent years that I stopped and thought about the collective hundred or thousands or miles involved in three generations of family coming together for a holiday, and that shows a pretty firm commitment to the idea of family. I've been trying to cut out the less meaningful interactions with people who in the long run just don't fit well...which seems to be a common theme for the season. Reducing the white noise in my life is difficult, but I was reading back through some of my India posts and rediscovered a voice of serenity that I lost for a little bit. Jonathan's been quite helpful, too, since he's been doing the same what's-important and where-does-everything-fit sort of jigsaw puzzle that I'm doing. We were talking yesterday, and it occurred to me (though not for the first time), that there are very few people who dance along the same wavelength as me, but those people are my foundation. Whether it's dinner conversations, poems, painting, tea drinking, public market-ing, movie-going, or just reminders to sit back and take a deep breath, you all are what's important. I may not know exactly where I'm going or what I'm becoming, but I'm happy that I have people in my life who ask me tough questions and I'm happy for the people that set the tough questions on the back burner temporarily in order to live in the moment.
Working on a balance between white noise and inner voice.
Renewing spirit of adventure and determination.
Hoping the lens will focus on a pretty picture.
P.S. Thinking of starting a book club, but one where it's one-on-one conversations. Realizing that part of my frustration with my classes is often that the size of them (or apathy/laziness of students) prevents good, deep debates over the material, I think it would be a nice balance to have a personal book club. So if you have a book you want to read and talk about, let me know. Things on my list for winter break: more Margaret Atwood, Desai's The Inheritance of Loss, The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan, and many others.
