My last semester

I’m still having trouble believing it. And it became all the more real today when I come completed my application for graduation. It got really real (yep, I said it) when, upon finishing the application, I was presented with the ads for my cap & gown and diploma framing.

It’s odd. I don’t feel like I’ve been at A&M for four years, that I’ve lived in College Station for that long. I guess that’s a good thing. I’m not one of those people who’s just crazy to get out and get a job and a place of my own, but I’m not going to lie and say I want to stay another year or two. I definitely have mixed emotions. Maybe when my post-graduation employment picture becomes clearer will I be more excited about leaving.

Until then, I leave you with an summary of my last class schedule as a college student. I don’t know about you, but I get pretty annoyed when people list off all the classes they’re taking. Unless you’ve got a pretty interesting one, like History of Rock Music, I probably don’t care (I’ve got one like that, though. You’ll see.). But, this is my last semester, and I believe I’ve got an interesting group of classes. I know, some of them you’ll be intrigued by, some you’ll be bored just reading the title, and one, you’ll laugh at. So here goes…

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

8:35 a.m. – Comparative Politics – Basically, examining and comparing political systems and institutions of different countries across the globe.

10:20 a.m. – English Literature Survey (Early to 17th century) – I’m finally taking British Lit. We’re required to take a certain amount of literature classes from a pretty small group, and this one seemed to be the most interesting. We’re reading Beowolf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a little bit of Chaucer, and Paradise Lost.

12:05 p.m. – Theories of Democracy – This is the second class I’ve taken from Elisabeth Ellis, probably my favorite PoliSci professor at A&M. At first, she seems pretty intimidating — she got her bachelor’s from Princeton and her master’s and doctorate from Berkeley — but she makes political theory engaging. I took Environmental Policy Theory from her last semester, and although the nine textbooks almost killed me, it was by far one of the best classes I’ve had at A&M.

1:50 p.m. – Water Exercise – Go ahead and laugh. It’s actually turned out to be pretty fun. At A&M, we’re required to take two physical education course, one based entirely on a specific activity or sport (known as KINE 199), and another a health class combined with an activity (a KINE 198). I needed to take a 198 in order to graduate, but the only classes that weren’t full or being held over for transfer students were “Step Aerobics” and “Water Exercise”.

Tuesday and Thursday

10:20 a.m. – Science and Pseudoscience – This looks to be my most interesting, and yet my hardest, class this semester. Annie, my anthropology major friend, convinced me to take this senior-level class (ANTH 489 for anyone who’s curious) as an elective. We have to do more papers and essays than I’ve ever had to do before, and that’s saying a lot coming from a political science major. But, we’re covering everything from creation “science” to UFOs to the lost continent of Atlantis.

2:20 p.m. – Graphic Design II – I took Graphic Design I back in the Fall of 2006 and I really enjoyed it (it helps when you get an A). The good thing is, there are no tests (same with Science and Pseudoscience), the bad thing is, there are tons of projects. But, I think it’ll be fun and I’ll learn a lot more.