I also love my schedule for this semester. Intro to French is wonderful, because as much as I struggle, I love that I am actually learning something new. I find the cultural aspect of it much more interesting than the actual language. Did you know most French businesses give all employees five weeks of paid time off every year?
Advanced Media Writing is fabulous, because it gives me a chance to do what I do best, write and edit. My favorite class period to date was last week when we got to analyze leads to stories that were actually printed in the Forum. It gave me a chance to rip apart the terrible writing they mass produce, as well as correct it the way I would like to see them publish it.
I have mixed feelings about Communication Analysis. Somedays I think it's going to be an incredibly easy class, and other days I feel like this is going to be the class that I struggle with most. My group research project is going to be interesting. My group and I are looking for a correlation between cell phone use and relationship success, to see if availability of constant communication helps or hurts relationships. I'm excited to start in on it. All of the prep work we've been doing in class so far is incredibly boring, and our classroom is stifling hot, making it nearly impossible to take notes of levels and types of measurements. :/
Communication Law originally started out as my least favorite class, but it's slowly working its way into my heart. I'd say right now it's somewhere in my right ventricle. Interesting topic for the day: Can First Amendment rights hold true to publishing companies when a book they produced may have played a major role in a murder? Case in point: today we watched a video on a triple murder of a handicapped boy, his mother, and his nurse, carried out by a hit man his estranged father hired, so that he could gain access to his son's $2 million trust fund given to him by the children's hospital when a breathing tube came dislodged, paralyzing him. I don't need to go into logistics of the case, all that needs to be said is that when the hit man's home was searched by police, they uncovered a book entitled Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors, which is a detailed how-to manual, published by Paladin Press, providing information to successfully carry out a hit. Excerpts of the book were read to us by our professor, and they were truly chilling. He then went on to tell us that the book wasn't written by an ex-green beret or someone with experience in this, but a single mother living in Florida. To me, it doesn't matter who wrote it. Even if this mother was just trying to support her child, who did she think her intended audience was going to be? She wrote under the pseudonym Rex Ferel, meaning "King of beasts" in Latin. Clearly she was aware of the power and controversy this book could cause. When the president of the publishing company was questioned in court, he admitted to not caring what the consequences of publishing a book like this could have. After much debate, and a switch decision in court, it was decided that First Amendment rights did not apply to this book. We then had a short class discussion on this that left me itching to discuss it further. Anyone who wants to take me up on this offer can feel free :)
I am so glad I am in choir again. I have missed singing so much.
If I didn't want to graduate in four years, I think I would take a 100-level class in every subject offered. I love learning. Knowledge is power.
The future is looking awfully exciting, as I begin to prepare to study abroad in Australia next fall, and the probability that I can intern with the Star Tribune this summer is looking up.
On a less educational note, fall TV premiere time has got to be my favorite time of year.
