Week 15 Famous Last Words: Nostalgia

Wow, it seems so strange to be at the end of my final semester here at OU. Everything is starting to pile up all at once, and it's getting really hectic. I'm trying to take some time to really take everything in before I move out after graduation. I'm not sure when I'll come back to Norman, if ever, but I will remember my time here with fondness. I made so many wonderful memories with great friends that I couldn't possibly look back without feeling nostalgic.

The weather has been a wonderful way to really enjoy my last days here on campus. I wish we had this weather all of the time, but I suppose you can't learn to appreciate the sunshine without some cloudy days. I know that I feel my best on days like today. I found myself even smiling as I walked across campus, which would be a surprise to anyone who knows me, as I have “bitchy resting face.” But even I cannot resist the feeling of joy that comes with spring. It’s my favorite time of year for a reason, after all.

Looking back, there is so much I wish I would have done, and not much that I regret doing honestly. I think that if I could tell my freshman year self one thing, it would be to say yes more and to give 110% to everything you get involved with. Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb, and don’t put yourself in a box too early. You never know what undiscovered passion might surprise you!

This class has been a really cool way to explore other cultures, and I’ve really enjoyed getting to flex my creative muscles for it. My storybook project ended up being something I really enjoyed doing, and I found myself wishing that I’d had more opportunities to do similar projects in other classes.

YAY GRADUATION!

The graduating seniors from my sorority pledge class (personal photo)

Online Education

I've taken a few online classes while I've been at OU, and they've all been pretty different. One was a blended course that had one class a week, but the rest of the work was online. I liked this format because it allowed me to get to know my professor and people in my class without have to go to class ALL THE TIME. The other online classes I've taken have varied in the type of work that they required. I liked being able to interact with my classmates through the blogs on this class, as the other classes I've taken have not had that kind of interaction. In general, you really have no idea who else is in the class with you. I also really liked that this class didn't have any exams, which always seem to be a complicated aspect of taking a class online. Last summer while I was in Italy, I took an online class that had exams, and I had to pay to have someone proctor my exams over my spotty internet connection. It was definitely less than ideal, and if I had known that would be the case, I would've taken a different class.

Overall, I like the convenience of online classes, but I do miss the interaction with professors and other students.

Reading Diary A: La Fontaine

For this week, I read the La Fontaine Aesop unit. It was cool to reread Aesop's fables in this storytelling style. The stories are lyrical and fun to read.

I really enjoyed the story of The Ass in the Lion's Skin. I thought that the story was really funny, and it was amusing to imagine people being scared off by that. It seems like someone would have noticed that it was just a skin before Old Martin did, but people can be very oblivious, so it's not totally surprising.

I also really enjoyed the Fox stories, of course. The last one, The Cat and the Fox, was one that I hadn't read before. I felt really badly for the fox in this story because the cat manages to outsmart him when the hounds arrive.

Famous Last Words Week 13: Atlanta Bound!

This week has certainly been a crazy one. I finally committed to go to Emory for an MPH in Epidemiology late on Sunday. I swear I stared at the screen for 20 minutes before clicking the “submit” button on their admissions acceptance website. A bunch of money and anxiety later, I have officially committed to Emory for this fall! Imagine my surprise when I found out the next day that I was accepted to Tulane’s MSPH in Tropical Medicine and Parasitology program. I immediately second-guessed my decision, even though I had considered my potential acceptance to Tulane while making it. After a ridiculously drawn out conversation with both my mom and my grandma, my two best sounding boards, I realized that I’d made the right decision. That was just too much for a Monday.

As the semester winds down, I’ve been getting more and more anxious/excited/sentimental about graduation. Now that I’m facing a move across the country and leaving all of my friends and family behind, I’m trying to make the most of the time I have left. I’ll be spending my summer here in OKC with my grandma instead of moving back to Tucson, but I’ll be going to visit my parents at some point, hopefully.

There is just so much going on right now that sometimes it seems like it might be impossible to keep up. I will definitely be looking forward to summer when I’m not pulling all-nighters anymore and can relax some. I should probably start looking for a job though… I’ve really enjoyed the reading that I’ve been able to do for this class, as it gave me a nice respite from the other classes I’ve been taking. Hopefully I will be able to read more for pleasure this summer, though I know Emory has required summer reading, something I thought I left behind in high school…

Emory's Rollins School of Public Health

Extra Reading Diary: Italian Popular Tales

For this week, I finished the Italian Popular Tales unit. I absolutely loved the story of Buchettino, who is a wily little boy. I was so shocked that he so easily tricked the ogre not once, but twice! I could easily imagine a charming little Italian boy playing tricks like Buchettino did. I thought the onomatopoeia that was included when the ogre came crashing down on the dishes he was climbing was a lovely addition. It made the story seem like your mom or your grandma was telling it to you.

Another story that I really enjoyed was An Incident in Rome. I loved how this story incorporated the most Italian of traditions, the Papacy of the Roman Catholic Church. It was an interesting addition to the story of Pontius Pilate, who left Jesus’s fate to the pharisees. I felt bad that Master Carter turned to stone after the Pope read what was written on him. I didn’t think that was fair since he was the one to volunteer to see what was down there. The fate of Pilate was certainly interesting, since he didn’t condemn Jesus directly, but also knew that he would be killed at the hands of the Jewish leadership.

A photo posted by Lillian Flannigan (@vulpesdormiens) on Jul 3, 2014 at 4:08pm PDT

A photo I took in Piazza Navona in Rome last summer! 

Reading Diary A: Italian Popular Tales

For this week, I read the Italian Popular Tales unit. I really enjoyed this unit, as I spent the last two summers in Italy, so it has a special place in my heart.

When I read the first story, Zelinda and the Monster, I was immediately reminded of Beauty and the Beast. This version of the story is very beautiful, and I loved the details the story provided about the monster and how Zelinda came to stay with him. I really liked how well the story came together. The sisters kind of reminded me of the stepsisters from Cinderella at first, so I thought it might be a rendition of that story. So I was pleasantly surprised when it was a Beauty and the Beast-type story.

Another story I really loved was The Man, the Serpent, and the Fox. I loved a story about a fox, imagine that. But really, this story was a perfect demonstration of how the fox is a trickster, and I was glad to see that he helped out the huntsman. I was worried after the second judge how the huntsman would fare, I thought the fox might be vindictive, but I was happy with the ending as it happened.

The clever fox

Extra Reading Diary: Celtic Fairy Tales

For this week, I finished the Celtic Fairy Tales unit, which I still found to be pretty strange. The first story in the second half of the unit, King O’Toole and His Goose, started out pretty normally, but the end of the story was very bizarre, and I’m still not entirely sure I understand it. I was glad that King O’Toole made the right decision in his dealings with Saint Kavin, as I could see it going very badly if he’d done something differently. It kind of reminded me of the prince’s ordeal in Beauty and the Beast, but in this case, the king made the right call. The goose was a little weird though.

The story of Beth Gellert was just a tragedy. Finding out you killed the dog that saved your son from a wolf? Talk about a tear-jerker. I was just so incredibly saddened that Gellert had died when it was discovered that he saved the prince’s son. It certainly seemed that he was the culprit at first, but the prince’s haste in killing Gellert prevented him from seeing what had actually happened. I can only imagine how terrible he felt after acting so swiftly. To me, this was one of the few stories in this unit that had an actual moral to learn from the storyline.

(The prince's son. Illustration by John D. Batten. 1892)