Speaking of...

Speakers! In the last week (ish): Queen Rania of Jordan, Tom Brokaw, Judy Blume, Jodi Picoult, Paul Farmer, Bishop John Rucyahana, John Mather--Nobel Prize-winning physicist, writers of The Onion, Shihan--most famous slam poet alive, Sir Peter Crane, the President of Latvia, at least eight more I'm forgetting, the list will never end...

In one week at this school, I've seen and met more "famous" (aka my definition of famous) people than ever before in perhaps my entire life. It's unimaginable--every day I remain shocked to be living here, much less learning with and from such incredible people. (And that's just the guest speakers! My professors have their own wikipedia pages, faculty advisor, deans and masters and presidents oh my...)

It's easy to get a little starstruck, but it seems as if at some point all these cool people eventually get to be, well, just another part of Yale. Upperclassmen seem far too underwhelmed compared to the innocent frosh and to be honest, I'd only actually heard of maybe five of the speakers beforehand (gasp!).

But part of me never really wants to lose this giddy feeling that "ohmygosh, where am I?!" One of my suitemates saw Paul Farmer and Anne Fadiman in the same room on a 55-minute stop to the keynote speech of the Medical Anthropology conference here between dinner and section for class. Where does this happen?? How does this happen?? It seems crazy every day that people take tours of this place where we live, but it's hard not to admit that there is something weird, something magical here.

I guess my only hope is to not become complacent, to not miss out on these opportunities, to live it up...? It's going to happen, though. I will have to do laundry during a Master's Tea (like today), or nap through something amazing (almost every day), and eat dinner or do reading while the world remains turning and churning as I do so.

Perhaps this is just another part of life--you grab and do and enjoy and take advantage of and accomplish and revel in what you can, attempting to remain alive and well and passing in the process? Sounds good to me. At least for a couple years.

[Random orthodox-ly dressed Jewish guy on street corner]: "Excuse me, are you Jewish??"
[Me, walking by and chuckling to myself]: "Sorry, no..."
[Aforementioned guy]:"Oh, okay then. Nevermind."

Two minutes and one block later...

[New random orthodox-ly dressed Jewish guy on new street corner]: "Excuse me, are you Jewish??"
[Me, chuckling significantly more]: "Sorry, no..."
[New aforementione guy]: "Oh, okay then. Have a good day."
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Only at Yale on (near?) the high holy days.

"I have heard and seen many examples of the cruelty that we are able to visit on one another in my time... I have also seen incredible forgiveness and compassion... Yes, each of us has the capacity for great evil... But for every act of evil there are a dozen acts of goodness in our world that go unnoticed... It is only because we believe that people should be good that we despair when they are not. Indeed, if people condoned the evil, we would be justified in losing hope. But most of the world does not. We know that we are meant for better." -Desmond Tutu

Did I Miss Anything?

Nothing. When we realized you weren’t here
we sat with our hands folded on our desks
in silence, for the full two hours

Everything. I gave an exam worth
40 percent of the grade for this term
and assigned some reading due today
on which I’m about to hand out a quiz
worth 50 percent

Nothing. None of the content of this course
has value or meaning
Take as many days off as you like:
any activities we undertake as a class
I assure you will not matter either to you or me
and are without purpose

Everything. A few minutes after we began last time
a shaft of light suddenly descended and an angel
or other heavenly being appeared
and revealed to us what each woman or man must do
to attain divine wisdom in this life and
the hereafter
This is the last time the class will meet
before we disperse to bring the good news to all people
on earth.

Nothing. When you are not present
how could something significant occur?

Everything. Contained in this classroom
is a microcosm of human experience
assembled for you to query and examine and ponder
This is not the only place such an opportunity has been
gathered

but it was one place

And you weren’t here

SCHOOL!!!

So it's official. After having gone to class for an unofficial three days, I've decided I'm in love with school.

I'm not even positive what I'm taking yet, and don't have to register officially for a week or so, but am astonished nonetheless and how ridiculously exciting taking classes has become. Admittedly, this is the pre-homework hurricane season, and the first few days of school always have that air about them that seem as if this year is the one when you'll love class and do your work and succeed, but no matter what feelings may come when four papers are suddenly due on the same day, I think what's most exciting is the freedom that this education allows to take incredible classes from incredible professors at an incredible place and ultimately leave with...an education?? Perhaps this is the word for it.

After years of intermittent complaining about all of the oh-so-wonderful aspects of high school life (and likely of middle school life before that), college is definitely amazing. But it's not even that; I think it's more of a perspective on things. Here, at this newfangled college place, it's intentional. We're here for a reason, and it's not just cause the state mandates it or, well, "to get into college". Yes, some of us want a good job afterwards, and many certainly aim for med school, but there's something more purposeful here. Enjoying classes, using the crazy abundance of resources that are available, and some kind of community in knowing that the vast majority of us really do want to be here because we enjoy what we're learning about and we choose to do so willingly? Perhaps. Whatever it is, I'm certainly all for it.

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At the same time that I've been in this hectic amazingness of the beginning of school, I've finally begun to read a book that has been recommended to me about seven hundred times in the last year (approximately of course)... Three Cups of Tea. (Which is, in a far too oversimplified synopsis, about a guy who takes on building a school and educating girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan and has now brought over 70-ish schools to rural areas there).

It just seems fitting (or in a general theme) that the insane excitement I'm experiencing at the moment for school should coincide with the realization of the fact that education for those across the globe is at this point not only crucial, but something that is beginning to come to fruition for a lot of people who seem to share my giddiness at the prospect of schooling. And that same intentional nature of the process, where school isn't forced, but chosen, looked forward to.

I could theorize endlessly about how important an education is for a "good life" in the sense that said life involves an apparently high-paying job or an *cough cough* ivy league education. But the reality that tends to exist is that the mere act of going to school and getting oneself an education is a path that leads to so many incredible places that we (as the Americans that we tend to be) oftentimes excessively take for granted.

In all honesty, Oprah and I have a tendency to not think on the same plane (there may or may not have been multiple derisions in the recent past headed in her general direction), but hey, the woman built an incredible school that is probably making a big difference in a lot of people's lives. For now, I applaud her. And Greg Mortenson. And everyone else who sponsors education.

To end as to begin,

YAY SCHOOOOOOL!!!