I’ve been at the University of Chicago for over a week now. Things are nice here. For the most part the people are fantastic (the class of 2010 in Talbot house especially). The weather is gorgeous. Classes started yesterday. Before I touch on the classes – I’d like to review orientation week.
It was great. An architectural tour if Chicago by boat, navigating the city in one large group, standing on the 94th floor of the John Hancock Observatory, and enjoying the Museum of Science and Industry with only your entering class… those were a few of the formal highlights. Getting to know everyone (or at least names) was fun all on its own. Going out to eat with my entire house, playing freeze tag on the beach well after dark, playing board games I’ve never heard of before – those were some of the informal activities. Orientation week was a lot of fun – I heard more than one student wish it would linger for longer than the planned nine days. Now its over… just the experience remains.
Classes started yesterday; today I went to my fourth class of the quarter. My schedule is intense, but do-able. In the first week alone, I will be reading The Iliad and The Wealth of Nations. In other words: ouch. My reading list for the quarter is a mixture of social science texts and humanities texts. Works by Karl Marx, Aristotle, Plato, Sophocles, Weber… to name a few of the more common authors.
I remember reading during my application to The University of Chicago – that most schools read about Plato and Aristotle – here we read Plato and Aristotle. That just hit me over the last two days. The reading is going to be a chore, but it is one of the things that distinguishes this school. I’ll try to stay optimistic about it.
Reading included, my schedule seems like it will be enjoyable. I came here for a challenge – and am paying handsomely for it – it doesn’t appear as though I shall be disappointed! I’ll update this soon. I had more to say, but I’ve used my alloted time for Internet activities – off to read! 🙂