..... Pirates.

So, what an interesting week, I’ve seen that there’s a great deal of turbulence in our class. Some people are frustrated, some don’t care about pirates and some just don’t seem to like the format of the class. I’m not going to lie I find it sometimes uncomfortable having no idea where I stand in this class, yet I in no way dislike the course. The main thing I learnt this week is that I have way more patience than I thought... This class is definitely testing me in a various numbers of ways. I’m learning a lot about women pirates and their places on the ships. I’m excited to work and continue on with this topic.

I am however sooooo done with being sick !!!

Pirates ...

So, due to this wonderful cold that seems to have hit most of STU students, I once again missed a whole full day of Aquinas. I’m really starting to get frustrated with this, one second I feel like I’m better again, then the next I feel absolutely horrible, like indescribably ill. However in the one day that I did make it to class we learned how to post things on our f drive, which is our site. Although it was a fairly easy process once I figured it out, I am sooo fed up with everything being done online, like what did people do before computers, whatever happen to the old fashion ways of passing things in on paper ?! Don’t get me wrong I love computers and all the resources they give us but I am more than fed with the amount I am required to use this stupid thing. I mean in every single one of courses I have at least 3 web sites that I use regularly.

So, now that I’m done ranting about computers I can dig in a bit deeper into what I learnt. I guess the thing I learnt the most this week was how to do further my research and how to really dig deep. It is not a easy process and is often frustrating but after doing it once I feel that I will probably do it again. Like Brittany said “I guess to sum the week up it consisted of researching and class discussions, and obviously group formations.” I am relieved that we are back in a group setting, love it ( :

Being sick sucks,

So, I was disgustingly sick this week so I only made it to one class. I was however excited to find that we were all going to be meeting as a whole again, rather than in the three separate disciplines. I am interested to see what I will learn about pirates. All though I have fallen behind due to being sick, I am in the process of doing all the things I missed just for the sake of knowing what’s going on.

I also really enjoyed writing my midterm paper; it was really interesting for me to revisit all the things that I have learnt so far this term in Aquinas. I am beginning to be challenged with all the work to be done but I’m embracing the change.

What a good week : )

Wow, I learnt a lot this week in all the courses.

For starters in English I learnt have a much greater tolerance for Doubt then I had given myself credit for, I had been to the point where I was begging for no more Doubt. But, then Thom had brought up a point that we are so used to a life were everything is changing all the time, we never spend time on anything, this made me think and I realised he was right. In public high schools we move on to something within a matter of days, our location and scenery is forever changing. The life’s we live are so fast paste that we are not accustomed to spending any amount of time on the same thing. With this new thinking I went in to watching the movie that maybe I could still take something new from the movie, and I did. Prior to watching the movie I was convinced that Father Flynn was guilty after watching the movie, I am no longer sure that is my belief.

I guess I just really learnt the affect that society has on every aspect of our lives, I never imagined that my short attention span was actually normal and was something I learnt from society.

This week in Religious Studies, I learnt so many I interesting things about the Tibetan Book of the Dead and how the Buddhist religion works. One of the things I found the most interesting was the fact that Buddhists do not actually want to be reincarnated they want to reach enlightenment. This was interesting to me because all along I had thought that the main want of a Buddhist was to receive a human birth, but now I understand that that is only the desired re-birth, as it is the only life in which one can reach enlightenment. It was confusing to me at first but now that I understand this I am extremely interested in the Buddhist religion.

I would also just like to add that I am enjoying hearing the stories in Journalism; I think it’s really cool how people opened up and told very real and personal experiences. I can’t wait to hear the rest of them!!

Ps- Thanks Thom for the candy ( :

So ... yeaa.

This past week in truth in society I learned something that I had been dreading and didn’t want to do at all.... how the UNB library works! I know now that it’s really not that confusing and there are lots of people to help me with what I’m looking for. But with that I realised how distracting coffee is to me, as soon as I saw it that’s where I was, but eventually I got back on track. This week I’ve learnt outside of class, the biggest thing was how hard university really is and that I can’t slack off here like I could in high school. I had a major reality check last week when I thought I was up to date and on top of all my work then came to the hard realisation that I had a lot to do, and that’s not a good feeling at all! I have also come to the realisation that Aquinas may not be for me don’t get me wrong I don’t mind the course and am going to stick to it, I’m just not cut out for the check mark system. I know that I’m suppose to learn a whole lot from it and I’m not doubting that I will, but for me it just doesn’t work. Like I have severe issues that my midterm paper that I spent so much time on just getting a check mark like everything else I do. For now I’m going to keep faith and see where I stand with marks come Christmas, but it will be interesting.

I am learning all about women pirates and stuff too : )

Number Fivee !!

Okay, so I’m going to start off by saying that I absolutely love Aquinas, in the beginning I was seriously wondering what I was getting myself into, but I’ve come to realise that I love everything we do in this course. One of the things that I found the most interesting this week was the reading “Nacirema,” surprisingly I was of the few who caught on to the point of the article and I really appreciated what I had come to realise from it... in reality we as a society are really stupid, it made me realise how judgemental I can be and how I going into things with a pre-formed expectation of what I am going to take from it. I really appreciated what I learnt and was able to take from that reading. The second thing I found interesting about this was working on our turning point stories. I have really enjoyed this process not only because I got to learn about Jarrid and how music greatly affected his life I also had to look deep into myself to figure out what my own turning point was. Through this I came to realise what I appreciate in my life and how I’ve come to be the person that I am today.

I’m really enjoying everything that we are doing, however I am worrying about occasions, I know that there are lots of things going on but it is difficult to find time, I am still getting used to atmosphere and am still getting into the habit of balancing school with friends and whatnot, so it’s a bit of a issue for me right now, but I hope to be able to catch up.

Number fourr !

The past two weeks have been spent working on the play “Doubt”. Throughout this process I have learnt a lot about myself. I have always been a fairly strong headed individual, therefore when I found my opinions’ changing it was a completely different feeling than what I am used to. I have also learnt how people’s opinions come to be, and that sometimes in we have to put our self in others situation before we can really judge or form an opinion. Although I find all of this interesting I must agree with Kelsey when she says, “it is about time to let Doubt go.” Just like Kelsey I have also learnt so much trough our study of doubt and I have really come to value the opinions of others, I just feel as though we have really over done it, to the point that I no longer enjoy talking about it, which is a shame because it is an amazing play.

I also learnt a great deal of information from Michael Higgins about Catholicism I really enjoyed all the new things he thought us about how the Catholic church works, although sometimes I got confused by his bog words .. most that I didn’t even know existed it was still and enjoyable lesson.

Just like Zach I also need to pull up my socks, I thought I was doing well and staying on top of things, but it seems that there is wayyyyy more than I thought... I’m kind of scared! There are too many web sites to keep track of and I’m getting extremely frustrated.

Lastly, I LOVE journalism, Michael Camp as a amazing ability to teach and to make one’s mind work :)

number three ( :

This past week in Truth in Society we wrapped up working on the Rwandan genocide, and split into our three separate courses. I was very excited for this as I was eager to dig in to the point of each subject, however, after my first Religious Studies class I realised that this wasn’t going to be as wonderful as I had anticipated. I feel this way not because of the work load or such things, but because I am now realizing how hard it is to listen to other’s bash your beliefs and not snap back with a rebuttal. Although, I will admit that it is very intriguing to hear all the different beliefs people in the class have. Along with this theme came what I learnt this week; if you can dish it make sure you can handle it. By this I mean that it is completely acceptable and expected that not all of us in the class will have the same beliefs, and it’s okay to talk about what we feel is wrong with others views. But, if you are going to talk about what you feel is wrong with others beliefs ... be able to take it also!! Upon thinking more about how that class stirred up my emotions, I am now really excited to talk some more about such things, as frustrated as I was I am learning to have an open mind, what I was hoping for all along : )

... continued

This week in Aquinas I learnt a lot about the Rwandan war, but more than that I learnt how to open my mind to other people’s point of views. I had always been the type that got somewhat upset when I heard someone’s opinion on what I thought was an important issue, and was a different opinion then mine. However after this week in Aquinas I found myself being more and more interested in others opinions. Not only did I find what I was hearing interesting I was also finding myself thinking more and more about why I believe the things I did. I find it very interesting to explore the opinions of others.

I have also found learning how to do research for educational purposes very helpful, and I feel as though I will be a better student having gone through this process. Overall this week was a very good one in which I learnt that the only difference between Genocide and “acts of Genocide” is the wording, and using the term “acts of Genocide” appose to Genocide was the U.N’s way out pulling out of the Rwandan Genocide in the 1190’s. Yet, had the U.N used the term genocide they would have been obligated to stay in Rwanda.

I am very excited to go foward into our three seperate classes and learn even more !

The Beginning

So far, Truth in Society has been the course I have learnt the most in, which is odd seeing as it’s the only course I do not have notes in. However, I have learnt not useless information that I would never remember after spitting it out on a test. I have learnt about how people act when thrown into a group setting to share ideas, I have learnt that sensitive topics can be discussed if handled in the right manor. I have learned about everyday legitimate stuff.

The point in which I felt I learnt something very important was when Michael Camp said, “Entertainment is not a sign of being on the right track.” This made me look into my own life on a level I had never done before. This quote that was mentioned in a conversation and immediately caught my attention and I hurried to write it down. With this quote I went out on a branch and compared it what I call “entertainment” in my life, and as I thought about I realised that Michael had been right, not one of those things indicated I was on the right track with my life. How does drinking with my friends on the weekend, shopping, or even slacking to fulfill a want of entertainment indicate I am doing something with my life? It doesn’t so really, I learnt that life is so much more than just entertainment; I am now passionately thinking about more important issues, I feel as though I am now looking at the “bigger” picture.

At this point I feel as though I cannot bring justice to stating what i have learnt, as I feel I have not processed it all. Many real issues have been brought up so far, and I am learning so much about how people work and howI, myself think. I believe that the things I’m learning may not click until a later time. I can tell everything we do has a place, and I am not convinced it has all fallen into its place yet.