The School for Me

My Tuesdays begin at 12:00 with Math class. This is a pretty good starting time for me as I can stay up pretty late the night before, as I like to do, and not feel exhausted when I begin my day. Though I don’t believe every class needs to start at noon or later as that would inevitably lead to more night classes (no thanks) I think it the vast majority of college students like to start their day later than they did in high school or middle school. When the time comes to select classes, we rush to the computers to ensure that we won’t get stuck with an 8:30 or God forbid 7:30 class. Students don’t want to be there, most teachers don’t want to be there, so I would love for a school to phase out early morning classes so that is no longer a concern for anyone.
Because of this adjustment, my ideal college would also serve breakfast until at least 11:00. As it is now, I could wake up two hours before my class starts and still have very little time to go out and eat, especially if I wanted to shower beforehand. It’s always good to eat a good meal before starting the day, so let’s make that a little easier for everyone.

As for the class itself, one unlikely objection that I have is that our homework does not get checked and therefore does not affect our grade. I understand that it is very difficult to check everyone’s work in a class as large as mine, and I have admittedly taken advantage of this policy many times, I think that in the long run it hurts my peers and I. For one thing, there is little incentive to do the assigned work when there is no immediate benefit for having it completed and no punishment for neglecting it. It is easy then to put it off or ignore it altogether, but then we are forced to cram before quizzes and exams. Not to mention, these in class assignments are the only thing we are graded on. Having homework count towards our grade could be a saving grace for students who are genuinely trying to learn the material but still struggle on tests. My ideal college would have all tangible assignments count towards our final grade.

At 4:30 I go to my second and final class of the day, Research Methods and Analysis. When people learn that I’m taking this class they often ask what we do there and what we learn about. I usually have no idea what to tell them. It’s not such a difficult class, but I tend to wonder just how it relates to Government and International Politics (it is required for that major) and I get the distinct feeling that I’m not the only one in my class who asks that same question. Perhaps it is inevitable that we won’t always see immediately the benefits of taking a particular course, but if that is the case then professors need to be able to tell us why this is going to be important in the long run. If they can’t do that, then the course should probably just be dropped. The Administration Office should make an effort to hear what students have to say about the things they are learning and re-examine the merits of courses that receive widespread criticism. There’s no use in having us take classes that are just there for filler.

On a more general note, my preferred school would encourage professors to seek feedback from their students rather than just lecturing and hoping they all absorbed the necessary information. I want my teachers to try and get to know me and how I think. I want them to know my name. I want to feel comfortable with the people around me and not like they are strangers who simply happened to take the same class that I did. A good way to do this, in addition to teacher to student communication, is student to student communication. Group projects, peer reviews, jeopardy games; there are plenty of ways to help kids get to know one another. For this to happen, there must be professors who understand that one of the things we all want out of college is to meet interesting people. They have to create a positive, laid back environment that encourages us to listen to others, respect each other’s opinions, and make an effort to get to know as many people as possible.

With this in place, my last wish shouldn’t be too hard to fulfill. That is that the students at my ideal university would not be as bound to certain cliques or social groups as they are in many schools. I think that by interacting more during class, we could learn a lot more about the people we go to school with and build friendships that would have otherwise never formed. No stereotypes or pre-conceived notions about others based on how people look or dress or whom they talk to. We aren’t all going to be best friends with each other, but we can at least learn that there is more to all of us than what meets the eye, and we all probably have more in common than we realize.

Jesus is just all right with me

1. I originally saw these shirts as more a parody than anything else, even though I suspected that there were many Christians who wore them. However, I do see how they could be an attempt to make religion more appealing to those who would otherwise want no part in Christianity, mainly young people. My guess is that if that is the goal, then these shirts are not likely to be very effective simply because a number of people will not think that they are meant to be taken seriously. As a non-religious person, I am not offended by any of these shirts and I actually like the idea of Christians showing their faith in a creative manner. However, I can see how more religious people might view them as making light of their faith and what Jesus went through.

2. With regards to shirts reading “Jesus is my Homeboy” and “Mary is my Homegirl” Paul Mitchell confesses “Sadly, I even know Christians who wear them” (324). This shows that many in the Christian Community have no problem showing their faith in a more unorthodox, humorous approach and that they don’t consider the shirts blasphemous at all.

3. For me personally, the images of Jesus or Mary do not have much impact on my view of the shirts, so I would not feel differently if they were not there. I do think that the images are a large part of what bother some of those who are offended by these shirts, so their attitudes could change significantly if the images were removed. However, I doubt that would happen because the pictures of Jesus and Mary make the shirts stand out more, and usually depict them in such a way that they look cool, and thus appealing to young people. For some Christians, this is exactly what they do not like about the shirts.

4. I think the shirts want to convey much the same message that priests and ministers do about Jesus and his sacrifice, but in a way that makes him seem more like someone that young people can relate to. Jesus is portrayed in the top photo as being cool, happy, peace loving, and in touch with current fashion. He is meant to look like someone that would be a friend to teenagers, which is something that Christians believe is very important, if not essential: to have a personal relationship with Jesus. The fact that he’s flashing the peace sign goes with his teachings, and could just be another way for people to show others what Jesus and Christianity are all about. The second shows him looking slightly more like what we are used to, though with the black and white coloring he still looks a little “cooler” than we’d expect him to. He is also making gestures with his hands that look like something a teenager or athlete or rapper might do and seems to be holding the words with his fingers. Though I think this one carries the same basic message that Jesus was the kind of person we could all respect, love, and be friends with, it also suggests through his halo that he was more than that. While some may say this makes the image even more blasphemous, I think it shows some genuine faith in Jesus that they thought to include the halo even though we could easily identify him with just the text and picture. This suggests that he really is the prophet that Christians believe him to be.