Friday, August 20
Today we had our first practice classes with our “section” and “seminar” classmates. My section who I’ll be having class with every day includes Nels Mikkelson, Mary Rose Malloy, Kitty Jensen, Tommy Duffy, Enzo Salvaggi (born in Italy, educated in France), Lisa Gerrity, Dominic Hayden, Mark McLean, (the last two were in my section in the summer program last year), Helen Freer (from Australia), Claire Kaupke, Sean Pope, Hannah Russell, Scott Martin, and Paula...oops...I can't remember her last name. Oh well, exppect to be seeing those names fairly frequently here, I'm sure we'll hvae some fun disscussions in class.
Our class was on C.S. Lewis writings about education during wartime, in which he debated with the people who thought that learning during wartime was frivolous. He explained his point of view that there are certain cultural actions which men will do anywhere. “Men are different. They propound mathematical theorems in beleaguered cities, conduct metaphysical arguments in condemned cells, makes jokes on scaffolds, and com their hair at Thermopylae. This is not panache: it is our nature.” (this was quoted at least 4 times in our class). He went further to explain that since humans have a desire for knowledge and beauty, God must have intended this desire to be fulfilled (St Thomas Aquinas used a similar proof to prove that Adam and Eve had marital relations in Eden). And the proper way to fulfill this desire is though education, because even though apparently there may be more important things which demand our attention, we cannot concentrate on them all the time.


Katie Milton, a prefect I knew from BOL, at the freshmen "Soiree." 


Andrew Norton, a prefect (junior) I knew from the summer program, sportin' some stylish headgear at the "Soiree." 



Tonight we also had our first dancing lessons. Traditionally the sophomores teach the freshman how to dance, so several of them set up a boombox down by St Augustine’s hall in the walkway and taught about 20 of us the basics of swing dancing. The last time I danced was at the MI New Year’s Young Adult’s Retreat, so it was great to get back in the swing of things (sorry for the pun). I had forgotten how fun dancing was though, so this year one of my non-scholastic goals will be to get much better at it. Some of the sophomores are extremely good, and most of them didn’t know how to dance before they came here, so I figure if I practice enough I can get that good.
~Nick