Alpha post

Welcome! I extend the salutation from my blog to the class and from the class to my blog. It seems that after 4 years of walking through the courtyard into Wilson for English classes (and the occasional random lit. class in Roberts or AJM Johnson) this is to be my symbolic last; the port where I return, leave Bozeman and see the world with fresh eyes... at least until I return to academia:)

When I heard that Dr. Sexson was teaching the Capstone and the theme was to be "epiphanies" I was ecstatic. I can only imagine how much potential our class has to really have a memorable experience through our shared revelations. Remember this idea of "potential". We have a chance to really make the most out of the next semester.

For this blog, one of the main tenants was to give an overview of my career as an English major. Well... I have loved it. At times I may joke with friends that I major in "being poor" but I think that there are other ways in which I have become wealthy. For me, I believe that pursuing a study of literature has been a highly entrepreneurial move; I have taken a risk towards the advancement of my person and can now look back and realize that the small sand-grain of knowledge I began with has expanded into universes.

At times (and I'm NOT afraid to admit it) I look into the not-so-distant "real world" future and doubt whether or not I should have gone with the -lish ending over the -ineering ending to Eng_____. I would think that many of us have had those dark thoughts-- (holding book) "how is THIS going to help me get a job? If only I was an -ineer. I could have been rich!" However, I think that we all come to terms with our choice. We know that the path we have undertaken has not been trod in vain. Perhaps, over the hills, we all can make out something that draws us near. It looks surprisingly similar to all of us. Henry David Thoreau states in Walden-- "Instead of noblemen, let us have noble villages of men". Ours is truly a noble endeavor-- to inhabit the noble village.

Looking back over the syllabus, one particular idea really attracts me. Sexson writes that a capstone should be "the defining course in the career of the English major". The concept of "definition" is a wonderful way that I wish to approach the class. Over the past couple of years I have built up a mass of knowledge-- WE have built up a mass of knowledge. Now, in this class, the focus should be not only to learn, but to really mold, shape, and define this mass into something of firm purpose and with beautiful aesthetic.

At times during the semester, especially in those dread times, I can see how we will be tempted to slack. Let us not fall into that temptation (intended religious voice) and surmount it together. The only way for us not to have epiphanies is to not keep our eyes, ears, and mouths open. The epiphanies that will be revealed in this class (of which I can only now make out shrouded shadows) are out there waiting for us to discover them. I like to think that our search for epiphanies should share in the same spirit of Walt Whitman in Leaves of Grass. Whitman concludes his democratic wanderings through America with the line "Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,/ Missing me one place search another,/ I stop somewhere waiting for you". We should "keep encouraged" and seek to have our own epiphanic experiences blossom before us.

To sum up my hopes about 494 I can only say I have high expectations for this class. I look forward to it being a real capstone-- a crown on the structure of my amassed knowledge as an English Lit. major at MSU.