I know, I still have to finish up presenting my college admissions essays. They’re on their way, I promise. But in the meantime, I thought I’d post a quick run-down of my first week of classes and my plans for this semester.
Monday
I didn’t have any classes to go to on Monday, so I decided to cook lunch in Fairchild. Then I met with Hispanic Studies professor Vicente Pérez de León and hammered out a TAing schedule. I’m excited to be the TA for a couple of Vicente’s classes this semester: HISP 307: Segundo Encuentro: Hispanic Studies Colloquium on Short Stories and Films, and HISP 438: Don Quixote, Metafiction and Contemporary Hollywood.
Monday afternoon was also the first Collegium Musicum rehearsal of the semester. I was super excited to see the new music we’ll be singing; it’s the ensemble’s 20th anniversary with director Steven Plank, so we’re singing a lot of Mr. Plank’s favorite pieces.
Tuesday
I went to my first art history class ever (except for the one I took in Buenos Aires): Approaches to Western Art History. It seemed really interesting! Unfortunately, I knew I wouldn’t be able to make all of the required evening lectures, so I started looking for other options to fill out my schedule. I decided that instead of the art history class, I would take a private reading in second-language acquisition and possibly an ExCo for a couple credits.
Tuesday evening was composition studio as usual.
Wednesday
I had a big job interview on Wednesday in Cleveland, which sort of threw a wrench into my plans, but I dealt with it. I made it back to Oberlin earlier than I thought I would, just in time for my Collegium Musicum rehearsal. Then I quickly ran off to the ExCo fair and applied for three different ExCos, none of which accepted me, which meant my current course schedule wouldn’t work—I’d have to find another way to fill up my schedule.
I also attended my Wednesday evening seminar, Music, Orality, and Literature in Hispanic Traditions. Honestly, this may very well end up being one of the most interesting classes I’ve taken at Oberlin.
Thursday
Wednesday was a late night, so I slept in. That’s the good part about not having morning classes, especially when you’re a night owl like me. Then I spent the afternoon writing an article for The Oberlin Review. Then I spent the evening working at the Review, which is when I decided I should just register for Practicum in Journalism and get credit for all of the hours I put into the newspaper.
Friday
I spent Friday morning working at the Review, as I did all last semester, though I did leave for a little while for my composition lesson. During my lesson, my teacher, Seung-Ah Oh, and I worked on finalizing the program for my senior recital.
After lunch, I headed over to Prospect Elementary School and co-taught a Spanish lesson to my SITES class. The SITES program hadn’t officially started yet for the semester, but I wanted to give my class a bit of a head start, so I planned a fun lesson about Carnaval in Uruguay for them.
The semester ahead
If all goes according to plan, I should have a pretty light semester this time around. (Of course, I say that to myself just about every semester, and it never turns out to be true.) Here’s what I’m taking, now that I’ve finally made up my mind:
- Private study in composition
- Music, Orality, and Literature in Hispanic Traditions
- Practicum in Spanish Teaching
- Practicum in Journalism
- Private Reading in second language learning
