Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Things I've Learned in College Part 13

I decided to humor myself by enrolling in a freshmen-level philosophy class this quarter.

This takes some adjusting to, as I realize in four years I've become so disenfranchised from "the kids", especially since I went home and watched a James May documentary series after I finished class.


Aesthetic:
-The whole class smelled like a Holister clothing store. I bought a coat from that franchise on time, and that kind of smell never leaves your memory bank.
-At one point I saw a very tall freshman wearing a t-shirt that said "SWAN DIVE... into the best night of your life."
-The beards (and I'm not talking shit here) were all very scraggly.
-The girls all seemed to be dressing like a commercial hipster.  Some unnecessary denim, a lot of straight long hair.

But more than anything, I noticed my own alienation.  At one point my poor professor tried "lecturing" which amounted to me writing the minor points (what is epistemology, the difference between that and metaphysics, etc) where the students stared blankly at him, and then he referenced beer, and then a whole group of chuckles.

"God dammit" I thought to myself.

Then a kid fell asleep on the first day, and I immediately became infuriated, whereas in 2007 I would have considered copying his behavior.

But the cout de grace was when the professor made a reference to Tom Rundgren and I laughed (out loud), which shifted 10 heads or so to me, and it hit me:

I've become the "old creepy guy" in the college class.  My only goal now is to remain silent and motionless until finals week.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I like this, mark. You're a babe.