So, Philosophy's Hard!

Well, to catch up the few people that read this blog that don't actually know me, I quit my job about two months ago, and went back to school in order to become a physical therapist.

That means 7 years total of schooling in order to get a Doctorate of Physical Therapy. Full time, so no extra money to be blowing on videogames and toys, and not so many reviews on the website (I've got years worth of reviews that I could do on those just sitting around, so don't worry, they aren't going away forever). Which leaves me with the question of what's the point of this blog anymore?

I can, of course, just keep putting the occasional review of a toy up, which I do intend to keep doing, but the reason I started this blog was to give me an outlet, and a place to practice writing, since I enjoy doing it, and I'd like to get better at something I enjoy.

So, the current idea, is that I'm just going to write the random crap that comes into my head a couple of times a week. I might spin it off into a second blog, because that's easy enough to do, and then people that don't want to hear about my philosophy class, giving blood, or cats, wouldn't have to read it, they could just stay subscribed to the review section.

We'll see.

So, midterms are this week, and I should really be studying for my philosophy exam, because like the title of the post says, it's hard. Instead, I'm going to talk about my classes.

I'm currently going for an AA in biology at a community college, which I'll transfer to a university from in order to attain a Biology BA (most likely), after that I'll have to apply to the DPT programs available in my area, but from what I've read, it sounds like the only two universities within driving distance to offer it only accept about 10% of their applicants every year, which is kind of scary. I'll just have to deal with that as it comes though, no point in stressing over something that's at least 3 years away.

Immediately, for my first quarter, I'm enrolled in a math class, a first aid/CPR class, and a philosophy class.

Math - Is surprisingly easy, I'd forgotten a lot of stuff from the last time I took a math class, around... 8 years ago, so the class I'm in right now is mostly a refresher for me. Oddly, 90% of my class is on the computer, I don't even really have to go into the classroom except for certain days when we have activities, which are essentially worksheets of story problems and such. I can't take my quizzes and tests from home, but I can go into the math lab at the college, and take it there, rather than in the classroom itself.

They said to expect 2 hours of homework in math for every day, I did that the first week, and I've been ahead of schedule ever since, so at the moment I just do work in class, and I'll start taking it home if I slow down too much.

First Aid/CPR - In order to participate in some of the DPT programs, I'm required to have an active CPR certification, and this class also satisfies a requirement for the biology AA, so I figured why not? It's chock full of lots of useful information, like how to move injured people, assess patients, clear an airway, etc, etc. It's been a little hard for me emotionally. First, it just reminds me of lying on the side of the road in a pool of my own blood, which is not a pleasant thing to be reminded of. Second, I've discovered that I have a lot of social anxiety, I don't know if this is a new thing after all of my recent traumas, or if it's just the same thing that I vaguely remember having as a teenager, but there have been a few classes where I've just wanted to bail early and go home instead of having to deal with talking to people that I don't know very well. That's in addition to the typical performance anxiety of making out with a mannequin in front of said unfamiliar classmates.

So far, I'm handling it okay.

Philosophy - I've never had a class like this before. It's pretty much entirely lecture based, you just go in, and listen to this guy talk about Aristotle, Parmenides, Socrates, and more. You have to take good notes, and then there are two written exams, which he takes the best of, and an oral exam. The oral and written are each worth 50% of your grade. Now, I'm really comfortable with the idea and theory of the class, but I just took a practice exam last week, and there's a lot of memorization. Like what were Plato's three functions/meanings of the soul? This is what's he's looking for (ripped straight from my notes):

1. Bilogical
1. Vivifying - Component of reality - Life giving element. Anything alive deserves to be called spiritual
2. Motion - Self propelled. Celestial bodies are in constant state of motion, thus spiritual
3. Immaterial - Introduction of separation of physical body, acquired from Orphic religions
2. Cognitive - Realization of relations and entities from the other world: Math, lgoic, simile, comparison. Constantly transcending what we find in this reality’s natural state. Moral virtues and mathematical principles
3. Religious - Relation between Body & Sould Advantages of soul over body:
1. Non complex nature
2. Immaterial
3. Immortal
4. Independent
5. Jailed to the body - Sent here to repay for our sings
6. More perfect

Now, I get the principles there, but regurgitating that all from memory? That's a bit much! I've just never had a class that required this much rote memorization before, I've always been able to get by just understanding the methods or concepts. It's not impossible, I know, and really, the exam is going to be 4 questions that I pick from a pool of 15-20 questions that he's provided, so as long as I really learn a few of the philosophers, I should be able to pick the ones that I know and be good.

Still, here's the philosophers we'll be covering on the first exam:

Thales
Anaximenes
Anaximander
Heraclitus
Zeno
Socrates
Plato
Aristotle
Epicurus

I've got my work cut out for me.

Well, I think that's all for tonight, I'll talk to you guys later!