school has officially begun and i must say that undergrad is NOTHING in comparison to graduate level courses. i have about 500 pages to read for my upcoming classes. they wanted to give a lighter load for our first week...
my first class was on tuesday. i wasn't exactly registered for it, but i was still interested in possibly taking it. during the first semester of this program, they advise new students to take only two courses so we can all adjust to the workload. the course was a seminar in performance art and how it affects communication and culture. for those of you who know me, i've been actively involved in the arts for a long time now, so i was curious about studying it further. it seemed like a very forward thinking course, however i've taken similar courses both at montclair state university and h.b. studios in new york city. i moved all the way to san francisco for something different, something new. this seemed safe only because it was what i already knew about. i wanted more. the class will probably be very inspiring, creative and innovative. in terms of what i came here for (which for now we can loosely refer to as liberating rhetoric - i.e. emancipatory counterdiscourse, the act of speaking truth to power for those who are disadvantaged by prevelant social structures or extraordinary social acts ( thank you Frey)) i feel like i would merely continue to delve into what i already know.
i came home and was greeted by some blooming anniversary flowers... it definitely cheered me up.
wednesday was the "intro to graduate study" course and it was really when i started to feel comfortable with the coursework. this is the class that will help me become an actual scholar on a graduate level. it requires the most reading out of any class specifically because it's meant to get us committed and addicted to absorbing A LOT of information in a small amount of time. ... i'm pretty scared about reading this much, but some of the second year students came to let us know that it is understandable to be scared and that we will all learn to adapt to this new way of thinking within a week or two. it was also pretty comforting to learn that not only were there other students in my cohort that were looking petrified, but there were a few that moved to san francisco a few weeks ago also and were completely lost all of the time. apparently i am not the only one who decided that starting a new life meant moving somewhere new. i must admit, i was happy to learn that i traveled the farthest in my cohort out of anyone... i'm not sure why i'm proud about that... whatever, i have a mattress on the floor and no belongings or friends - i needed SOMETHING to be proud of around here!
when thursday rolled along, i suddenly realized how friggin' hot it was. here's how san francisco's weather works...
we have a lot of autumn.
we have no winter.
spring just means rain from february to april and it rarely stops.
then it goes back to autumn.
lather. rinse. repeat
there is, however, this brief collection of days called "summer" here in san francisco. it lasts up to a month and a half sometimes, so it is important to enjoy them as much as possible.
so i went back to delores park and got some sun whilst i read through my first few chapters in my first graduate level textbook. as i previously mentioned, delores park is this beautiful field a few block away from my place with the best view of the city (as you can see). im sorry there are naked people in the shot, it's basically impossible to get a shot of delores park on a hot day WITHOUT naked people. so there i sat with a nectarine, sun block, bottled water and a whole lot of information to absorb.
for those of you who have been asking me about what exactly social justice and communication studies are, i offer you these galvanizing and explosive quotes from different scholars in the field:
"...social justice communication scholarship in a democratic society is an essential part of our IMPLICIT RIGHT AND DUTY as citizens to challenge the normative order to continuously construct a society that rejects social stagnation and seeks to reinvent human beings in new and increasingly edifying ways." - omar swartz
"where is the intelligentsia that is carrying on the big discourse of the western world and whose work as intellectuals is influential among parties and publics and televant to the great decision of our time? where are the mass media open to such men? who among those who are in charge of the two-party state and its ferocious military machines are alert to what goes on in the world of knowledge and reason and sensibility? why is the free intellect so divorced from decisions of power? why does there now prevail among men of power such a higher and irresponsible ignorance?" - C. Wright Mills ( what i love about this quote and this scholar is that he actually said this back in 1959... and it seems so relevant today)
and of course... a little Chomsky
"intellectuals are in a position to expose the lies of governments, to analyze actions according to their causes and motives and often hidden intenions. in the western world at least, they have the power that comes from political liberty, from access to information and freedom of expression. for a privileged minority, western democracy provides the leisure, the facilities, and the training to seek the truth lying hidden behind the veil of distortion and misrepresentation, ideology, and class interest through which the events of current history are presented to us."
(im still listening to speeches from the democratic national convention, by the way, and joe biden's speech is pretty damn good.)
two and a half hours of reading later, i walked back and saw that everyone was out and about in celebration of the weather. i got pretty excited because i thought that i would finally see some neighbors in the courtyard and meet some locals. i come back and im greeted by these two -
you all know atticus, of course, who has finally warmed up to me. that other one to the left is church. he lives next door, but because my doorstop gets better sun, he always lays out right where i want to step as i leave my place.
it's pretty cool to have a pet. of course, i dont feed it, wash it, clean up after it, etc. ... i just get to pet it. o yeah! and sometimes it kills moths and leaves them as offerings for me on my bed... twice already. atticus is a hunter. it's weird.
at this point in the day, im tired from reading, im exhausted from walking and working out and i just want to go to sleep. then phil called me on the videophone (SKYPE) and told me to go to class so i went. i'm very thankful for phil because there is no way i would have wanted to miss out on this class. of course, i was running late and OF COURSE i forgot to check out what room the class was located in (a very big THANK YOU to kristen in new jersey for answering my phone call and helping me figure it out) and OF COURSE A CRAZY WOMAN COLLAPSED ON ME ON THE MUNI TRAIN AS A MEANS TO GET A SEAT ON THE BUS BY ACTING BRITTLE. it was just all adding to my frustration with the day. then the professor walks in and i swear to you he looks like a hybrid of the crazy woman that fell on me and president george w. bush. he turned out to be an amazing instructor and the coursework solidified my decision on my second class. it's a seminar in group communciation and leadership. i had a feeling that it would be more geared towards political communication and i cannot wait to start reading the four chapters and three proposal lesson plans he's proposed all in time for next week's class. what's even more beneficial is that it's a prerequisite for becoming a student teacher. i dont neccessarily see that in my future, but it's nice to have that as an option in case i'd like to teach in the future.
i also made some new friends! i was even given a ride home... what a relief to have met some really nice people in my own cohort. (big sigh of relief)
ok friends! i've successfully updated you all on the beginning of my journey in this wonderful program and updated myself on speeches from michelle obama, joe biden and bill and hillary clinton. it's time to give my undevided attention to barack and fall asleep.
love and loyalty
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