Wednesday, March 31, 2004

Never has the title of my blog been more apt

The title of my blog, "Who am I? Why am I here?" refers to a line that a confused Admiral Stockdale, Ross Perot's running mate in 1992, used at a vice-presidential debate. "Saturday Night Live" cleverly used this line in one of its skits to poke fun at his absent-mindedness. Anyway, I can relate pretty well to Admiral Stockdale right now.

It is the beginning of another quarter. First of all, I strongly despise beginnings. I am absolutely terrible with them. They are always strange, and furthermore so much is thrown at you at once. This tends to wear me down. Plus I somehow managed to schedule myself pretty full this quarter, and so I'm trying to decide if I should switch that around.

Also, I think my school is particularly problematic for someone who doesn't like beginnings because we have three beginnings, not two, since we are on a quarter system as opposed to one that runs on semesters. One of the most glaring insufficiencies of this system is the lack of time that it provides, and as a result, everything is hurried--the pace of a class, the professors, the students. It is ridiculous; no system should run in such a ridiculously hurried fashion. It is so unnecessary. One thing that anyone should know about Northwestern is how much the quarter system really does affect the tempo of the school. It is not just a mere attribute but rather a structure that shapes a typical NU student's experience here.

I am also questioning my choice of major. I like history, but I know that I don't want to do anything with history when I graduate. I don't even think that I want to go to law school. So basically I'm just tired and disillusioned and not digging this new quarter especially with the typical shitty weather that is so characteristic of this city. And gosh, what a horrible contrast to Calfornia.

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