Not that I regret taking the fast track out of college. I mean to say... I love the Mount, I really do. It has done so much for me and it's truly my home. I would love to stay there forever. I hated having to make the decision to do three years, knowing that I would be cheating myself out of a full year of living in a place I love with friends whom I love. Yet, I knew it was God's will. I didn't know why God would want me to spend only three years at the Mount, but I trusted. And by golly, am I glad that I did! God certainly knows what He's doing, even when I don't!
In some ways, this next semester will be most difficult yet. I'm taking 19 credits, a four-credit overload from normal course work. And I'll be working 12 hours per week. My classes are looking to be amazing, though!
History of Economic Thought (ECON 407)- Despite the terrifying course title, this class will be great. I'm not an economics major, nor have I ever taken an economics course in my life. But! It's going to be great. I have to admit I was hesitant to take a 400-level course in a subject that I know absolutely nothing about... but the professor, who is an amazing Catholic, assured me that I will be perfectly alright in the class. The course will go through the history of economic thought (duh!) by looking through the lenses of philosophy and theology (both of which I have a strong background). And just in case, I'm taking the class Pass/Fail. :-P
Contemporary Catholic Philosophy (PHIL 346)- This class, funny enough, is being taught by one of the few non-Catholic professors in our philosophy department: Dr. JJ. But this man is amazing and, as I often say, he should be Catholic. He's the most Catholic non-Catholic I've ever met. Before he went and earned his Ph.D. he was in the baptist seminary and I believe he just recently converted to Anglicanism. So, he'll come to Rome soon. Regardless, this class is going to be amazing as well. We're reading Ratzinger, Henri de Lubac, Charles Taylor, and MacIntyre.
Body or Soul: A Philosophical Problem (PHIL 400)- Another class that is expected to be absolutely great. Inquiry into the problem of body and soul with a medieval philosopher. He's a tough grader. We joke that God would get a 98 on his tests and that Peter Kreeft would get a 99. (He was taught by Kreeft, to my extreme jealousy). But, I got an A- in his medieval philosophy course last year. I'm setting my goal for an A this semester.
Moral Philosophy (PHIL 301)- Requirement for my major and to fulfill our school's core requirement. I'm looking forward to it. It's being taught by a genius of a man and an excellent priest. It's also one of the courses that is taken with the pre-theologians from the seminary, which guarantees a little more of a theological emphasis. It requires one heck of a final paper, though. But hey, I love writing papers, so what am I complaining about?
American History II *Honors* (AMC 202)- Perhaps the course I am least looking forward to. I enjoy history and I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of this sequence. But there's a pretty high chance that the professor I'm taking for this section likes to assign a lot of group work... of which I absolutely despise. And there's a huge research paper that comes along with this class. Again, I like writing. But, I like writing philosophy much more than history. I'm not big on the whole "research" part.
Honors Thesis (HONORS PROJECT)- Well. This is going to be a pain in the butt all semester long, I can already tell you. Considering the fact that it's not an actual class that has a meeting time, I already know that it's going to be the first thing to be set aside when push comes to shove. And that's not good. Especially since my thesis must be at the very least 25 pages long. With the research I have done now and with what I plan to argue, it's looking to be at least 50. I enjoy what I'm researching and writing about, though. I'm investigating the philosophical foundations and influences upon the 12th Century Cistercian Mysticism of Love. If I can find the motivation to finish the project, I think it'll turn out well.
Internship- I'm completing the second half of my internship with Campus Ministry. It'll only be one credit this semester, as opposed to two credits last semester. This means I'll only have to technically work 40 hours as opposed to 80. But, I'll have that accomplished in a month. So the hours aren't much to me. I'm looking forward to this semester's internship plan, however. In the works: A nun-run to New York (Sisters of Life, CFRs, and Salesians) for the Fiat group, hosting the Dominicans of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist on campus, continuing to run and teach the RCIA classes, plan and execute the RCIA retreat, and finishing the final publication of the Prayer Book that I produced last semester.
All of that plus work in the President's Office, work as sacristan, and well, you know, a social life. It's going to make for a very busy semester.
But, I won't have Tolle Lege editing going on (I am the Editor-in-Chief for our school's Philosophical and Theological journal).
I am speaking at the Mount 2000 retreat. But it's only a 15 minute talk about my conversion story. Granted, it's in front of 1,500 high school students. But it's going to be great. Come Holy Spirit!
I'm looking forward to the semester. It's going to be a busy one, but that's how I like it. That's I how I accomplish things. But wow. My last semester. My last semester.
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