It's Reigning Here

The rain was flooding staircases and people were getting texts from
the University about flash floods as well. 

This morning I entered the breakfast hall thinking I was still dreaming and dropped straight into a nightmare. Never before had I seen lines that stretched at least ten people for every single station except the fruits counter. People were calling to each other and asking where the waffles were, and I rushed to grab one of the few remaining danishes before moving to the fruits counter. I had only recently discovered the magnificence of the waffle maker, and I had been looking forward to crunching the delicious batter cake. Unfortunately, the line for the only two waffle makers never died down until five minutes before I was to leave, and so I trudged outside into the rain with Christian. 

We were glad to make it to class, and Professor Kramnick detailed to the class this weeks schedule, which had been modified to accommodate the Fourth of July and Preliminary Exam. I must admit that I am quite nervous for the exam in two days' time. We received the impromptu essays Kevin, my teacher assistant, had graded over the weekend, and while my comments were more positive than I had expected, my progress on the first draft due tomorrow has come to an unexpected halt. This first draft is one of many stages of the paper that I will ultimately submit at the end of the course as my Final. The prompt is straightforward, and I have finished a rough first draft, but unlike my usual writings, this essay does not seem to sound right. Perhaps I simply lack practice after weeks without my English class, or the torrential rain may be affecting my imagination, but whatever the cause I think writing this blog has gotten my brain gears turning once more. A break is often helpful in times like these. 

The section room. Rather than trekking in the rain to Trillium, my classmates and I ate at a small cafe in the building where our section room is; with plenty of time to spare, we went to the room early to start studying. 

Before I go back to writing my essay, I would like to review what Professor Kramnick lectured about today. There is no class on the fifth of July, but because he wants to have five lectures per week we crammed two lectures into a single day today. Learning about Lockean Liberalism for nearly three hours definitely puts a strain on the mind as well as the rump, but I learned a lot about the philosophy behind the natural rights on which American ideals are based. The right to life, liberty, and property were recorded by Locke though they were not specifically his original ideas. Locke is known for his defense of natural rights, but if all men are free and equal, how do we justifiably subject ourselves to the reign of our country's laws? This was one of the three main questions discussed in my section today and I was very impressed by the detailed answer my group was able to synthesize from all of our ideas. 

The reign of natural law and the rain of clouds were very pronounced today, and I hope the downpour will not continue for too long.