5 more days..

Would it be appropriate if I started counting down the days I have left until I get to go home? That made me sound rather excited to leave Cornell didn't it.. that's definitely not what I meant! It's just that out of the weeks I've been here, this last one will probably be the busiest, most stressful one I'm about to experience. Jam packed into a mere four days, I will have a final paper worth 25% of my grade due on Thursday as well as a final exam that's worth 40% of my grade Friday. Oh and speaking of grades, I got my first midterm back! My overall grade was an A-. I was extremely pleased with it but Nolan definitely left very helpful comments on areas of improvement.  

Today's class consisted of the usual lecture in the morning, a discussion session, lunch, and then a writing session. After Professor Kramnick asked all of us how our weekend was, he introduced us to a philosopher who's beliefs were probably the most radical to the ideas of the largely democratic society I live in today: Edmund Burke. Burke was known for his defense of inequality-- a concept people probably have a hard time wrapping their heads around. However, his reason behind this defense is just incredible. He clearly believed in a hierarchy as well as a supreme ruler or monarch. This may sound absurd to us today, but his logic behind it was extremely clever. 

After, we had a more open discussion with Nolan as to how we really felt about Burke's claims. This was also when Nolan handed our midterms back. We then handed in our 2nd draft of our Plato essay. 

I also feel a cold coming on! I am trying my best to fight it down, but I had a severe headache after class. I decided to take a nap before getting into my reading, and after I woke up it still did not get much better. I did manage to get some of today's homework (texts from Karl Marx) though, and needing a break, Monica, Tess and I went to RPCC (dining halls) for dinner. After, I met up with Mr. Chanlaw as well as the rest of my cohort for another weekly check- in.  There, Mr. Chanlaw and I exchanged laptops (I gave him the broken one and he gave me a brand new one) I really cannot begin to explain how grateful I am for the Ivy League program for helping me in any way they can, even when I thought it wasn't possible. I've realized that I have not actually explained my situation with the laptop yet..so here it is. On Friday night, the laptop I was using suddenly broke down. The screen completely died and I could not start up my laptop any longer. In a mini panic, I immediately called Don asking for help. I knew I wouldn't survive without a laptop because I had a huge paper due in a couple of days (even if the computer labs were available) I knew I needed to put in many hours into this paper, many hours that would probably cut past my nightly check in times. But without hesitation, Don immediately got a new laptop ready and shipped it to me the following morning. I received my laptop today. I am still speechless. Thank you so so much. 

 

So these last few days will go by extremely quickly, but they will be dedicated solely to studying. But as much as I want to get this hectic week over with, I don't think I'm ready for summer college to end. I feel extremely conflicted at the moment because once I finish that final exam Friday morning, I'll be officially done. No more lectures, discussions, writing workshops, countless hours of studying, visiting my TA at office hours-- no more Freedom and Justice. And after officially finishing that course, there's only a number of hours left before I board that plane to go back home. I'll miss my dorm (Yes actually), I'll miss having a roommate, I'll miss my new friends, I'll miss being here, I'll miss Cornell's beauty, I'll miss Cornell. I don't think I'm mentally prepared to just leave yet and just thinking about it makes me sad.