Day Twenty One - Paper Number Two

They say that the heat makes you do crazy things.  In the case of today, the heat caused most of us to stay inside on our last Saturday in DC and work on our papers (I know, working ahead, how ludicrous).  But in all honesty, for me, this is the best I have ever felt about a paper this far in advance.  Usually I am cramming last minute to finish up.  But I feel a sense of determination to do well on this paper, partly because I am a bit of an A-nerd, and partly because this paper is kind of a symbol of the culmination of the Institute.  When we turn it in on Thursday, we have that day's classes, the evening's banquet, and then packing to leave on Friday.  Don't worry, I'm not going to fill this post with sentimentality (is that a word? If not, dibs!).  There will be plenty of time later this week for that.

When I came here three weeks ago, I was under the mindset that I am going to enjoy the experience and not focus so hard on the grades that I miss out on everything else.  Besides, as long as I make at least a B, the credits will transfer, and for Virginia Tech (where I am studying), the grades don't transfer in.  But over the last three weeks, it seems that the level of intellect and discourse has really challenged me to want to do better and has created a thirst for knowledge that won't let me just do average.  I want an A at the end of this Institute because it will be a personal accomplishment, even if it means nothing for my GPA.  At the end of week two, in our last pedagogical session, Claire Griffin talked about where we go from here.  Everyone of us is in a different situation as to what continuing education we can do or what new experiences we can apply for.  But each of us can take this experience in intellectualism and continue pushing ourselves to become better historians and teachers.

The highlight of today for me: sitting in the AC and getting laundry done.

PS - I don't know if other colleges nickel-and-dime their students nowadays, but I feel like Georgetown is trying.  I wanted to add $2 to my ID card so that I could have enough for two more loads of laundry.  But online, the minimum amount to deposit is $10.  So I decided to go to the machine in the cafeteria to do so, but the minimum there is $5.  I know I can spend it elsewhere too, but I only want enough to finish laundry for the week.  Oh well, I guess I'll do laundry again midweek to insure I have enough clean clothes for next weekend.

MEET THE FELLOWS: Steve Byers is our Fellow from Dover, Delaware.  He has been our Facebook scribe.  Every time Dr. Belz says something that makes us scratch our head, Steve documents it for posterity on his Facebook page.  Among my favorites (thanks Steve for transcribing for us):

-"He was an open unionist, not a closet nullificationist." Dr. Belz on James Madison and the Virginia Resolutions
-Justice Ginsburg was asked today why she thinks the Supreme Court generally has a higher approval rating compared to the other two branches. Her response..."we have to give a reason for what we do."
-"Mitt Romney is a post modernist. He's waiting for someone to tell him what is real." -Dr. Belz , July 5, 2012
-"Authority doesn't grow on trees" -Dr. Herman Belz

TOMORROW: More paper-writing, and hopefully the last day of heat for a while.