End of Spring 2010 Semester Reflection Blog

Wow.

What a year this has been for me. During the Fall 2009 semester, I studied abroad in Madrid, Spain, and took classes for my Spanish major as well as doing an internship with a non-profit organization called Club of Madrid, whose membership comprises the world's largest forum of democratically-elected ex-presidents and prime ministers from around the world. I have talked about this in a previous blog post, so I will not devote much space to it here. Needless to say, my experiences with studying abroad have returned me to the United States a well-heeled traveler who has attempted to incorporate the lessons I learned from living abroad into my everyday life so as to become a "citizen of the world."

After I returned from Spain in December, the realization that I was fixing to have to return to the mass amounts of homework I had not experienced since the previous spring semester had not yet hit me. But, oh boy, did that realization slap me in the face during my first week back. I found myself unable to write a paper as quickly as I had previously done, which I chalk up to the fact that I had only written two essays during my time in Spain. Two sounds like a vacation in Tahiti compared to the mountain of essays that has eclipsed my life this semester.

Our Paideia cohort's topic is, "Understanding Human Behavior." I feel that having a firm grasp of the systems on which other cultures operate is part of the process of beginning to understand human behavior. That is why I found my study abroad experience so valuable. Being able to live in and experience a completely different cultural, political and historical environment is why I feel that study abroad should be an integral part of everyone's college education, not just those students in the Paideia program, or just Southwestern students, for that matter. I have gained experience in learning to live with people different from myself, not just with different value systems and languages, but with different problems, concerns and goals from my own. In Spain, my host mom and I had many disagreements (which might just be the understatement of the year). She didn't like cooking and often fed us frozen meals or the leftovers from the restaurant at which she worked. She had an irrational obsession with the cost of electricity and the fact that the only way I could sleep was with the white noise from a electric fan. She was unwilling to compromise on the schedule she kept, even though she was supposed to per the contracts we signed with program. But, through all these disagreements and problems, I have emerged a person who is more confident and able to deal with situations that aren't exactly favorable. I have learned that in life, we most often do not get what we want and sometimes we just have to make the best with what we are given.

Paideia, for me, is a little like my experience with my Spanish host mom. We are put into this group with people we may not know or like and asked to cooperate and design a civic engagement project. In the process, we not only have to compromise and find ways to make things work, but we also have to make every attempt to get along, as those with whom we work will be with us for the remainder of our undergraduate educations. In the moment, a lot of these compromises and disagreements only serve to anger or annoy us, but for me, after I have time to step away from the situation and reevaluate that which occurred, I usually get a different view than that which I originally had. As the program has progressed, I have gotten to know several of the members of my cohort well and I have also shared intimate details of my life with them in the process. This give and take, back and forth exchange of ideas and feelings is what a liberal arts education is all about and why Paideia works for me. I needed the study abroad experience in my life at this time to open me up to new ideas and ways of living; to teach me to eat the plate of shit that life sometimes gives me and be thankful that I at least have something to eat. Paideia allows me to take the experiences I had while studying abroad and continue the discussion by not only providing a place to vent about the frustrations I had, but also providing a forum in which others can provide advice and commentary which help to bring into focus my perception of the situation.

This year has been a turnaround in terms of what I feel Paideia, as a program, is and aims to be. I love that it is open-ended and up to each group to decide what they want to get from their class. Not that I didn't like the original members of the Paideia group, but I thoroughly enjoy the small size of the group now. It allows for me to form a much more personal connection not only with my fellow cohort members, but also with Dr. Giuliano and her family, the members of which are included in many of our activities. The format of this semester's meetings has been very conducive to conversation. In addition, it required much less preparation and outside work than in previous semesters, which was one of my principal concerns with the program. As it stands, I am as happy in Paideia as I have been since I started the class.

This semester has been rather crazy for me. I have held two different jobs, the second of which I currently hold, and am on the edge of completing some of the last requirements for my majors, outside of my Capstones. I am constantly learning new lessons about myself and about life, in general. These are in addition to the obvious lessons pertinent to aims of my classes. This is one of the reasons for my renewed love affair with Southwestern. When a university makes as its mission the inclusion of life lessons into its classes, that is impressive. I have only recently realized the significance of the combination of these two lessons in solidifying my knowledge of theoretical texts in my classes.

Though it is still a year in the future, I can literally taste the finish line for this portion of my life. I love college, and my rediscovery of Georgetown has only furthered that effect, but I am looking forward to seeing where my journey takes me next. The view from this side of the future is rather foggy and undetermined; yet this is one of the reasons I am so excited to move into the next step in my life. I am a much different person than I was when I arrived at Southwestern. Hell, I'm a much different person than I was at this time a year ago! Not that I didn't like who I was then, I did. But now, me is the me specifically designed for this period in my life. I guess that one could say this about any time in their life and thus make it their preference at all times, but maybe that is part of growing up. Recognizing the changes one has gone through to get to the present day, being happy with one's current self and always keeping one eye on the horizon, ever searching for the next piece in this puzzle we call Life.

Yours,

Brady

On-Campus Event Blog

Hey again!

I have been to more on-campus events this semester than in any previous semester in my time here at Southwestern. Not sure why this is, but I am going to chalk it up to me growing up and rediscovering the reasons why I came to Southwestern in the first place. Anyway, the event I decided to write about is the most recent of the events that I have been to, the theatre department's production of Escape from Happiness.

In the play, we find ourselves thrown into the life of a family in turmoil, due to the accusations made against them due to the presence of hidden drugs in a bag in their basement. We witness the transformation of the father, an ex-cop who has supposedly been reduced to a shadow of his former self by Alzheimer's disease, from a blithering, stumbling old man into a criminal mastermind who has been pretending for the purposes of reconciling with his family members. He has recruited the help of his daughter's husband to rid the neighborhood of crime so that his family members might finally come to terms with the things he put them through during previous years, when his alcoholism caused a familial rift. All of this is staged within the kitchen of the family.

Not only does the play take us on the journey of discovering the truth behind the drugs' presence in the basement, it does so in a way that explores the depth of relations between the members of a damaged, seriously dysfunctional family. To stay funny amidst the seriousness of the subject matter, the play relies on the ability of the actors to subtlety insert the proper amount of sarcasm and cynicism into their lines.

At a liberal arts school like Southwestern, I feel that attending theatre productions is a good way to get some insight into not only the world of the performing arts, but also into the emotions that are conveyed in said productions and the messages communicated through them. I feel that this play not only depicted a dysfunctional family in a rather strange situation, but it also depicted a group of people who struggle with problems that sometimes have no solution. The message communicated through the story of this family, or at least the one I took away, is that just as blood has the power to bond us together, so can it tear us apart. What I mean by this in the context of the play is that we are bonded by blood to our family members, but when that bond of blood is betrayed or desecrated in some way, it hurts more than if a complete stranger had done the same thing. Coming from a strong family background, I cannot imagine what it would be like to not have my family members in my life, or what it would be like to have to deal with a rift in my familial unit, a rift like the one in the play.

Good works of art, in my opinion, evoke some sort of personal emotion in the viewer. One that sometimes cannot be explained or understood. In the case of Escape from Happiness, my connection is that of the complete opposite family situation in which I was raised. I have spoken about my family numerous times in Paideia sessions as they form an integral part of who I am. When times are tough, I turn to my family to help me get through. I define myself in terms of my relationships with others, my family being the single biggest influence upon the person I am today. I can't imagine what it would be like to not have family connections and bonds that I can always depend on. Sure, my family has its problems, like any normal family, but the presence of problems just signals that at least the family is communicating with each other, as opposed to bottling up all their emotions inside in order to keep the peace.

Family relations is very relevant when one considers the topic of human behavior. Families represent the most basic of social structures, one that has evolved over the millennia in order to better the survival chances of humans and to fulfill our need for social interaction. The complex nature of the modern familial structure is much more developed than those of early humans. This is good in some ways and bad in others. In the case of the family from the play, a rift has formed that probably wouldn't have had the characters not been family members, an example of a bad effect of the modern family structure. But, in this same family, one sees the ruthless lawyer daughter who fights to protect her family and will go to any lengths to accomplish her goals. This illustrates the strength of familial bonds.

I was not expecting to come to Southwestern and be a regular attendee of theatre department plays and musicals, yet that is exactly what I have become. The production values are much higher than what I would expect here at Southwestern and the actors are all immensely talented. If they continue to put on moving performances that allow the audience to think instead of just blindly consuming that which is occurring onstage, you can expect to see me in line for my tickets as soon as they are available.

Brady

Off-Campus Event Blog

Heyo!

For my off-campus event, I decided to write about my first trip as a 21 year old to the wildness that is sixth street. As it was my first time, my friend and I decided we would barhop to lots of different places so that I could get a feel for which ones I liked enough to return.

During spring break, I felt all alone on campus until my friend called me up to see what I was doing. We talked for a little while, at which point she told me that she was going downtown for the night and asked if I wanted to accompany her. I said hell yes and made my merry way to meet her.

We started things off at a place called Maggie Mae's. This place is really cool and huge and they have cheap drinks, to boot. It was a little chilly out that night, but it was still nice on the upstairs patio, which is perfect for people watching, by the way.

After Maggie Mae's, we headed to another bar called The Chuggin' Monkey. Here, let me point out the preponderance of strangely named bars involving the use of animals in the bar name. Case in point, the aforementioned Chuggin' Monkey, as well as another called The Dizzy Rooster. Not sure, but there are probably more along the lines of Hair of the Dog and the Cat's Meow. Anyway, the Chuggin' Monkey didn't turn out to be my cup of tea. It was a much smaller bar than Maggie Mae's and its drinks were a bit on the expensive side, as well. These weren't the deciding factors, though. The type of people that this bar attracted is one of the reasons I will never go back, unless they are hosting a band that I really want to see, like REALLY want to see. Another reason is the quality of bartenders that the CM employs. I don't want overly interested and too nice bartenders, but a little more attention and and attitude adjustment couldn't hurt.

As our Paideia group is all about understanding human behavior, I feel the social environment of a bar is great place to explore and attempt to understand this. Not only is the 'mating ritual' of modern-day society in full blow in a bar, but one can also see the social cliques clustered in groups around the bar. The alpha males always stand together and tend to orient themselves in the bar wherever the most attractive females choose to go. The attractive females tend to orient themselves around whoever looks like they will buy them a drink. On top of these social groups, there are also several other outliers of males and females all jockeying for the attention of the opposite sex. It is interesting how the bar has developed into a place for not only interaction between the sexes, but also a place where one can find a potential mate (if only for the night). It is also interesting how there seems to be unspoken rules of interaction between the opposite sexes, by which I mean that if an 'unattractive' male approaches an 'attractive' female, he will at best get the cold shoulder, at worst he will be made a laughing stock in front of her group of friends. Why do we continue to engage in behavior that not only damages the health of our livers, but also perpetuates gender stereotypes and acts as a source of humiliation to those individuals who so happen to not be born 'beautiful' by society's standards?

Engaging in my first night of typical college student debauchery on Austin's sixth street provided me with my first hands-on experience with a scene that is depicted time and time again on television and in movies. The people watching experience was eye-opening as simultaneously confirmed and resisted the popular culture depictions of what a bar is like. There is not nearly as much social interaction as I would have imagined (at least not at the bars I went to). This, however, is not a phenomenon I feel is only occurring in the bar culture. I see us all becoming less and less social in person, yet more social through digital means like Facebook. We have talked about this phenomenon numerous times in Paideia, yet I feel it merits mention again in connection with my experience on sixth street. The cell phone usage in bars is so rampant that it was not uncommon for there to be periods of time when everyone around me was looking at a screen and not the people around them. I find this progression of technology a little creepy and was one of the deciding factors that I used when gathering the strength to delete my Facebook account.

I feel that we are losing the ability to converse face to face, especially those who are several years younger than myself and have not known a time when cell phones and wifi were not in widespread use. This slow move towards more digital means of communication and interaction is something that will, in my opinion, hurt the future of our country. We need to move swiftly to rein in the influence that technology has over young children in order that they will not become dependent on it in order to perform the most basic of tasks (as many adults, including myself, do today).

'Til we meet again,

Brady