So I decided to take Comparative Studies H202.01: Literature and Religion this quarter. It counts as an Arts and Humanities GEC, and I chose it because I don’t have a very strong religious background or understanding of religion. I figured that college is a time to broaden one’s horizons, and it is a very present part of the world. We started with a book called God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now. The author, John Crossan, is arguing that the Bible depicts Jesus as a teacher of nonviolent practices, but the formation of civilization adopted violent methods instead. It describes the violence within the Roman Empire, comparing it to America today, the New Roman Empire. It continues to analyze in detail many different parts of the Bible that support and contradict the argument of the nonviolence of Christianity. This weekend, we had to read 150 painful pages and write a two page paper for Monday, which we will repeat again for Wednesday. It’s been very difficult, and as I am lacking a Christian background, I find myself Googling every Biblical reference, which takes time. I considered dropping the class, but I am trying to keep in mind the reasons I am taking it. I hope to gain a greater depth of understanding for religion in my life.

Posted by Cool_Whipp10 at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, it’s been a few weeks since I blogged. I had the best intentions, but the last few weeks of summer ended as a blur. My amazing summer of independence, living on my own in Columbus, disappeared as quickly as it began. I headed home and crammed in a week of quality time with my mom and extended family. Essentially, it was how I had spent my last two summers, but packed into one week and a bit more celebratory. I headed back to OSU and moved all my stuff back into Bradley Hall for RA Training. Our staff unexpectedly doubled in size and we were flexible with the change. This meant I would be able to work with some of my closest friends in Paterson Hall, the other building that makes up the BP Complex which split up at the end of the summer but then reunited, and meet lots of new people, not to mention work with the Pharmacy Scholars Learning Community that is housed in Paterson. Training as a returner provides an incredible opportunity to develop leadership skills, particularly with our Hall Director and Assistant Hall Director being new to OSU Student Life. I celebrated my 21st birthday and got ready for Move-In Day, which was a blast. And now school has started and I’m frantically doing homework and getting to know my residents and planning programs and working my internship and getting back into the social scene of OSU and simply surviving. This last month flew, but it’s my favorite time of year. It’s also the most stressful. Hopefully I can find a balance between the relaxing self-fulfillment of summer and the crazy OSU lifestyle I love so much.

Posted by Cool_Whipp10 at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)