EAP Visit

Studying abroad? EAP is the place to be! The UC's Education Abroad Program has so much to offer. At their office one can find information/advice for people in a particular major. One can also sort by country and decide after reviewing countries of interest. Regardless whether you are sure you wanna study abroad or have a slight thought about it, you should visit the EAP office to learn more about making it happen.
Personally, I would like to study abroad in either Germany or Japan. My only obstacle is learning the language, but I am sure that I could do it if I keep at it. I am also thinking about maybe even going this upcoming summer if I have enough units to be considered a sophomore. I will definitely be stopping by the EAP office in the near future to start getting advice from people who have participated in the program. That is another great thing about EAP, the people there went abroad so they can speak from experience.
I hope you are also interested in going abroad and I want to encourage you to give it a try, even if you do not think you will like it, try it one summer.

MacBetty

(About to head over to Shakespeare's Scottish Play)

Wow, Shakespeare's Scottish play, as performed by Naked Shakes, was interesting. It is easy to imagine that this is what it would have been like in Shakespeare's day; the audience seated high up in the Globe theatre relying on the actor's words because they can't see the stage or actions very well. One thing I found spectacular was the Naked Shakes vision that, "There is no rule that says only actors of the right gender, ethnic background, race, height and height are allowed to play a certain character." I thought all female cast in male roles did splendid. One major detail that made the play rather interesting was the commitment to character. A great player was Madelyn Robinson, playing the role of Lady MacBetty. In addition to the level of commitment, the ability of some players changing into other characters was astonishing; for example, a couple players were horses for scene and I was very impressed with their character choices made. Last but certainly not least, were the incorporation of great visuals during the performance. A main visual I liked was when people swayed their hands back and forth in sync in the background while MacBetty recited his "dagger" monologue. My favorite visual was the use of red gloves after Duncan's murder; it was a simple way to show the deed was done and caught everyone's eye because the players wore all black with the exception of Lady MacBetty wearing a read blouse (discretely revealing her character).

Lubach and Library

 (A small collage about myself)

Dr. Don Lubach's presentation really got me thinking... I mean, it WAS about thinking so why not give it a go? Some key points about thinking I absorbed from Dr. Lubach's presentation were evaluating info, evaluate thought, and looking at sources. These three things are exactly what a good thinker does. As Dr. Lubach explained, thinking can be something painful because accepting something one does not believe in can hurt. This is especially true for thoughts held close to our hearts, like religious beliefs. Dr. Lubach mentioned a book by Reza Aslan; "The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth". Lubach reported of Aslan's critics and opposition to his book. Unfortunately for Aslan, not many listened to his argument, and that is one thing I believe Dr. Lubach forgot to note, a good thinker has an open mind and that is why I have added Aslan's book to my reading list.
I could keep writing about Lubach's presentation for days, but I do not want to keep you too long so I will quickly note an observation I made. As Lubach went over Bloom's Taxonomy, which I had seen before, I promptly linked it to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Then I remembered how the bottom was basic survival which includes food, and the top was self-actualization (being the best you can be). After that I thought about drives, how they push a person to achieve goals, and how hunger is a drive that makes one eat food. Now, without food there is no way of reaching self-actualization so applying that to Bloom's Taxonomy, you gotta be hungry for knowledge! Only then will you stack building blocks to reach evaluation.

Now on to the Library presentation... All I can really say is that it was full of wonderful resources. As a matter of fact, I think it may have been too much for one sitting but that is only my opinion. Luckily, I know that I can ask a librarian for help if I ever need anything. Oh and just a heads up, the lady at the information desk (I did not catch her name) is kinda mean so if I were you I would ask someone else in the library and that is from personal experience (happened on the day of the presentation, looking for the room).

Hope you all are enjoying FSSP and are preparing for finals. Best of Luck!