I begin this post with this image:
Because this is how I started my day. Just replace the tea with coffee. I have decided to try to post every day this week as I am post- essay season and still have that small part of me screaming
SO, I am going to channel that left over whatever it is for good and not evil. So here it is, the third post in three days, but what will I write on?? I wasn't sure until my second class of my day. At 1.45pm every Tuesday I make the fifteen minute walk from my flat to Buccleuch St where I enter into number 18, and climb the two flights of windy- twisty stairs to reach my Medieval and Renaissance Scottish Literature class. It's a third year Honors level core course, which means.. well I'm not entirely sure but there you are. There are around 15 other students in my course, and 5 of them are what we would call back in the States 'unconventional' students, here they are 'mature' students. Having gone to a small liberal arts college where everyone is within five years of my age, I wasn't sure how the class dynamic was going to settle or work. Now this seems in hindsight to be a close minded thought- people are people right? Well, yeah it was. These 'mature' students in my course were fantastic, and in many ways the mixture of college students my age and those in their thirties, and in one case, early forties is straight up one of the most eye opening experiences I have had while studying here. They are able to bring in a different perspective to a reading of Henryson or Dunbar and honestly, I think that will be one of the biggest things I will miss most when I go back to my home College. I was going to Greyfrier's for a stroll in the afternoon one day and I ran into one of my classmates, not from this literature course, but from another, and he was there with his seven year old daughter. At first our reactions towards seeing each other was something like this:
Okay- not that dramatic but you get the picture. Then his daughter looked up at me and just started talking to me about her school, her friends, and most importantly how her dad was taking her to the museum. Well that nearly broke my heart into a million tiny teeny pieces
UGH. So friggen cute. But what I took away from this interaction was the students at the University of Edinburgh are not only students, but some are mothers or fathers, some work full time jobs, some work multiple jobs- hell some don't even live in Edinburgh- one girl in my History class commutes 3 HOURS every day to go to her classes, and is happy to do so. It just put everything in perspective. There is something to be said for being in an academic setting where people not only have a different opinion or approach, but are willing to share it with you. I know this post took a serious turn, and normally my posts are filled with sass, hang in there I'm almost done with this part. I've just really enjoyed being with a group of students spanning over twenty years between the oldest and youngest in My English class. It has made me change the way I think about what it means to be a college student, I no longer immediately picture someone in their late teens/ early twenties, I don't really know what I picture anymore... Cheesy I know, but there you have it.
IN OTHER NEWS I am going to the midnight premier of Catching Fire tomorrow night and I am more than pumped for that experience, I am also beyond elated to see the lights go on in Edinburgh this weekend and for the Christmas fair to open- aaaaaaghhhhhhhhhrrrrr alll of the Christmas things!!!!!
And as for turning 21 on Saturday...
That's all I have to say about that for now.
Until the next post
xxoo
E
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