I’m adding a fifth class this semester. I’m nervous because I’ve always taken only four in the past, but I think I should be able to handle it. It’s the “Scientific and Quantitative Reasoning in Context” class, and the specific subject is “A Psycho-Social and Biological View of HIV/AIDS.” It’s a service learning class, and right now there are only three people in it. I’m signing up because my best girlfriend is in it, and she doesn’t want the class to be canceled! Plus I need a service learning class, I have to take that scientific foo foo class at some point, I want to have a class with my friend, it’s a topic of interest to me (HIV/AIDS education is largely unavailable in the Deaf community), and it fits in my schedule. So it’s all going to work out.
My classes all seem okay so far. Ethics only has two other Honors kids in it, but everyone else seems somewhat bright and participatory. Of course I was the MOST talkative on the first day, because I always have a lot to say! The class turns out to be not only about group inclusion/exclusion in society, but also in sports. I’m a little iffy about that part, I’m not knowledgeable about or interested in sports really, but I think it will be okay.
Sociology is going to be DISMAL. Although I find the topic very interesting, nobody in the class seems interested, they’re all kind of floppy and blah. That is, the kind who wait for others to answer the question because they simply don’t have anything to say about it. Hopefully I’m wrong, but that’s a strong feeling I get from them so far.
Research Methods in History is going to be cool, I like the teacher (his signing has improved a little since last semester!) and to my delight, everyone in the class WANTS to be there. Everybody LIKES history. Sometimes I feel nerdy for liking it, but there are people as nerdy as me in that class! The topic for this semester is going to be the Cold War. We’ll each pick a topic for research, and I hope to pick McCarthyism, because I find it the most interesting part of that era – much more so than foreign policy! I don’t know anybody in the class, which means group stuff will be awkward, but it’s okay.
Deaf Culture is going to be great. The teacher is brand new, he just got his MA and this is his first semester teaching. The syllabus is incomplete and labeled “tentative” but he seems smart so it should be good. I have several friends in the class and many people there are taking it because they’re majoring in Deaf Studies, so there’s going to be real interest and discussion.
I’m trying to decide which of these classes I want to pick for an Honors option. I’m interested in it for Deaf Culture because there’s very little work for that class – most papers are two pages; the final paper is only 10 pages – and also for Sociology, just to combat the boredom that comes from being in a class with people who aren’t excited about the subject. But I don’t know if there’s any benefit to taking more than one Honors option, so I have to figure that out first. I don’t want to create work that is truly unnecessary (you only need one Honors course to stay in Honors) but at the same time, if there’s a reason to do two now, I want to know about it!
My books will probably be in the $200 range. I can handle that.