End of Finals Week

Fatigue and confusion threaten to overcome me at the end of what has been a whirlwind past couple of weeks. I still have much to do, including grading the volumes of student exams that remain in my possession. After administering them this afternoon, there was both the levity of the end, and the weight of grading them that still bears on my mind. And yet I suppose that the end has come for the time in which we had opportunity to give our all, to learn, to discover and to implement the new skills we gained. Is the real world truly this way? Do we simply cram things into our minds long enough to pass an exam and then promptly forget it all? I question the nature of our education. Perhaps there are some, even many that can learn in this environment, but I find it toxic to my own learning. I learn of course, and these thoughts are by no means a reflection on the quality of my professors, whose gifts continue to impress me more by day. I am left simply reeling at the sheer volume of work that those in academia are expected to process and produce. I struggle to organize myself long enough to endure a semester. Is it the nature of this school only? Or is this the nature of academia across the country? Are all people so divorced from society and their own personal lives due to the time required to be a good professor/instructor/graduate student?

My mind is still a mess with regard to all of this, and I think it will take some time for me to get my bearings. Sleep would be a good place to start. But I simply wanted to throw out some questions at this moment. I suppose that I have benefited quite a bit from the system, which may take some of the wind from my sails, insofar as I cannot very well critique something from which I have gained so much. Education I will say and always will defend is a great opportunity, a gift that we should all treasure. For truly, our knowledge is one of those intangibles that can never be taken from us, that remains despite any action committed against our bodies or any other part of our physical reality. At the same time, are there better ways of educating ourselves?

I wonder at the difference in education across the world and the type of students and individuals created as a result. Certainly scare tactics and indoctrination are not the best course for education, however I know plenty of people, born and raised outside the United States, who know the geography of North America better than I could have ever imagined was possible for a student in the US, much less for someone from the other side of the world. What are we seeking though? Wealth? Hope for a better life? At what cost...that of someone else's poverty, or the loss of our lives and relationships because we lose that fragile balance that allows us to work hard and yet maintain friends and relationships. What is life truly about? Why are we here? Is it true that we make ourselves? And if so, how is this done?

I am intrigued as ever, by the answers that Christianity has to offer. I believe that in the absence of Christian ideals for which to strive, life offers little other than banalities to distract us from the fact that we have no direction in life. Only endless pursuits of temporal things that will not last beyond this life. What do you want your life to be for? How do you want to spend the finite amount of time you are given upon this earth, in this world, this existence in a vast, glorious and beautiful universe.

Choose wisely, and this life can be fulfilling for you and those around you. And always ask questions, for they lead us to the truth that governs all, and shows the path to true freedom, and thereby true contentment in this crazy world.

Merry Christmas! Go home and spend time with those you love. You deserve it and so do they. And thank God for all that He has given you. For no matter how little or much you have, you are blessed in that you live. In that you have the opportunity to make a difference in this world, in that your life could count for something, could mean something, could change the world. Fear not, and follow your heart, and let your life be phenomenal!