I'm Reminiscing

This semester has absolutely flown by. It seems as if just yesterday we were meeting as a cohort for the first time. I have had my toughest semester at Southwestern thus far, yet I managed to strike a good balance between work and fun, I think. So, as a toast to the finish of a hellish semester (and which I will be celebrating shortly after I finish writing this), I offer this blog and the many wonderful recollections of times past contained within it.

The Paideia program has been a nice way to have a steady set of lunch plans with a group of people. But, in all seriousness, it means so much more to me than just sitting around a table while we discuss current events. It has been a way that I have become more actively engaged in the Southwestern community, it has opened me up to views other than my own and those which I have already been exposed to (this IS directed toward you, David) and through the program I can see that I am going to be forced to become civically engaged, not that I have never wanted to just that it seems hard to make time for others when it seems as if you don't even have time for yourself. My course load next semester is a little less strenuous so that I can make sure I do not half-ass this civic engagement project. 

I feel like this first semester of Paideia has gone just like the program intends for it to. We are all still in that "getting to know you" stage and that, or so it seems to me, might be the link to the limited discussions during our lunchtime meetings. I feel that once our group progresses past this stage, that is when all of the people in the group will feel comfortable expressing their opinions during the meetings. I hope that this is how our group ends up because there are certain people in the group who I would like the chance to get to know better and an easy way to break the ice is through finding out their opinions and getting a feel for what kind of person they are through hearing them express themselves during our group meetings. Also, the civic engagement project for next semester will help us to get more comfortable with each other, I believe. 

I am satisfied with the civic engagement project we selected, though I did cast my vote for the R.O.C.K. program. I did so because I felt that this program offered each of us the most scheduling flexibility. It would have given me a set time to be there each week that would, more than likely, have been different from most others in the group. Each of us could go depending on our own schedules. This is my biggest concern with the Boys and Girls Club of Georgetown. I don't feel like we are going to be able to hold ourselves accountable for attending in the same manner that the R.O.C.K. program would have held us accountable. But I am completely ready to figure out something to remedy this along with the others members of the cohort.

Here's to a great first semester and five more to come,

Brady