Jake's
College Blog
End of Year!
May 27, 2009
Wow, I can't believe the year is over already.
I really feel like a different person
than when I started. I'm really pleased with the progress I've made. I
know that I've written things I never would have without the lessons
and prompts I've gotten at Columbia. As I write this, I realize that I
should add that I don't feel like I've been indoctrinated or
conditioned into writing in a certain style that is practiced here.
Columbia is pretty unique, eclectic and encouraging of individual
tracks. That said, it can be easy to be swayed into the style of a
teacher whose own writing and thinking you particularly respect.
I think I haven't fallen into that
trap. The trick is to keep a steady hold on your own themes and
motivations while exploring the different styles. My workshop professor
articulated something like this at our final class meeting. The class
was discussing a certain writing guru with a strong reputation in NYC.
This guru apparently is quite sure of his opinions and can be pretty
eccentric and rough on his students. My professor had been taught by
him and told us about some different reactions among his peers in the
class.
Some invested in the style of the guru
so much so that they would resist forming an opinion on something
without hearing from the guru first. Others were beaten down and felt
inadequate for having different styles. The successful ones, though, he
said, were the ones who absorbed the guru's lessons but kept a wider
perspective and an allegiance to their own grander vision.
Yet another gem from my workshop
professor. I'm really going to miss him.
Anyway, the year ended up with a great
party to celebrate the graduating students. This year, as a new
tradition, each of the graduating students contributed a short piece of
writing, which were all compiled into a beautiful hard-bound book. It
came out really well. And the party was a lot of fun. We writers even
got dressed up.
Finishing Philosophy
May 23, 2009
So, classes are over and the end-of-semester projects are
due. Luckily, I don't have any finals to study for, just writing to
complete. The weather is really nice and spring fever is setting in...
so it has still been a bit of a challenge.
A requirement for the program is to
take a class outside the writing division, so I got into a philosophy
class this semester. It was an extra class for me. Columbia charges the
same tuition for enrollment in anywhere between 12 and 18 units per
semester. My program requires 60 units over two years, which means 15
per semester on average. The philosophy class was units 16 to 18 for me.
Anyway, I wasn't sure that my mind was
going to be able to bend into philosophical thinking, so I registered
for the class on a pass/fail basis (instead of getting a grade) and
looked at it as a bonus -- if it didn't work out, no big deal. I could
drop it or even fail it, since the writing division doesn't give grades
either. It's all pass/fail. No GPA to worry about. I guess that's art
school for you.
The class had its ups and downs. I may
have drifted off a bit sometimes during the class, but overall it was
quite interesting and a stimulating exercise in very abstract thinking.
In fact, I found it quite interesting to see instances in which
philosophical thoughts and positions seemed to be mucked up because the
concepts were too abstract and couldn't be well-represented with
language. Which is all to say that linguistics is terribly interesting
to me.
Because I was crazy busy with my
writing classes this semester, I put off writing my philosophy papers
until the very end. After a few days of anxiety over them, I managed to
crank out two papers, five pages each, good enough to pass the class.
It was a good feeling to know I can still cross disciplines.