In many ways, this course could be called a surprise. I say this not because I was unaware that it or another one thousand level course must be taken at Xavier, but because the amount of work that has to be put into it. My name is Itta Aswad and I am a senior, Biology Pre-Med major from Oakland, Ca. My feelings about this course are completely a result of ill planning on my part with a hint of procrastination. I haven’t taken any theology here at Xavier for the following reasons: 1) My peers and people who have came before me told me that theology is one of the hardest classes at Xavier, 2) I have been told several horror stories about the instructors in the theology department, the biggest one being that they don’t like Biology majors. For these two reasons I decided that it would be better for me to take the class when I had mentally prepared myself. On might ask, have you done that yet? The answer to that question would be in some ways but not all. I was asked by Dr. Homan what my classification was. Due to my youthful looks he did not think that I was a senior. In a way I am upset that I let him know, for I believe that he will expect more out of me.

Because of the “rumors” about theology, I did not feel the need to do much research on which class or instructor I took, thus I am in the class that would fit in my schedule and that in essence would be the determining factor of whether or not I graduate. I am however happy about one thing. When I entered Xavier as a freshman, my English 1010 instructor told me that the purpose of Xavier and higher education in general was to promote well rounded students that are knowledgeable in various subjects, for without that you aren’t that knowledgeable at all, but are in closed in one box of thought ( that box containing your major). Because of this, I appreciate the course and being able to take it, for it will enhance my knowledge and allow me to bring more to the world than just a brain full of Biology.

However, with that in mind, I do feel sometimes that instructors here at Xavier that are outside of the Pre-Med departments have a problem with Pre-Med students. I think that it is ASSUMED that because students do not major in theology or political science, that they are not interested in the topics of that subject. Because of that, I feel as though those teachers make their classes more difficult and time consuming than they need to be, so students will be forced to take their classes to heart. I do not agree with this attempt for one important reason, although we are suppose to strive to be well rounded students, our purpose and goals in live need to be prioritized in terms of importance and timing. Yes, Biblical Studies is important, whether or not you are a religious person, for we are in a world that is heavily based in the history of the religions and the teachings of the Bible. However, one can not be forced to except knowledge sooner than they are ready. For example, if I don’t want to know how my biological clock runs because I could care less about it at this point in my life, I should not be forced to take a human psyo course. The same goes for Theology class. The study of religion and topics surrounding religion should be discussed at the discretion of the person. Because I have no problem with these studies, and actually want to learn more about the subjects I have no reason to refute them however that are not the space that all students attending Xavier are in and they should not be forced to be there before they are ready.

Now back to the bitterness about the Non-Theology majors. I truly believe that they work required by non-science subjects is so high because they want their subject to be just as important as say Biology or Chemistry. It seems as though they have no compassion about the fact that they are not the only class that a student is taking, thus the amount of time needed to do well (well being an A) is not available. Any person is going to take more time on a subject that they care for or are interested in, that’s human nature, so making the course extra time consuming and difficult is doing nothing but making the student\’s dislike the subject. As for me, I am interested in Biblical Studies, therefore I am not as likely to reject the information, however, because I am trying to graduate and I have a lot of intense subjects I would like to fill more comfortable in this class and not as pressured. Oh well, that didn’t happen.

My first impression of the class wasn’t good; however it was not because of the class work, rather the people in the class. I feel like an outcast because the level of maturity unfortunately is extremely low. I feel as though my classmate do not respect what Xavier and the theology department are trying to do by making us well rounded student, and that they are being rebellious and disrespectful. When I came to college I was anticipating a lot of work and responsibility, however I do not feel the students in my class share the feeling that I had four years ago. I see that they are trying to lighten the load that they have to take, when the most course work they have on average is fourteen to fifteen credit hours. That is nothing compared to the eighteen hours I am taking, and you do not hear me complain in class. This goes back to what I said about the importance of being ready to study a subject. Because I have somewhat mentally prepared myself for this and I am in the place in my like that I a yearning for this information for more than a degree, it is easier for me to swallow the work load and get it done. But for someone that is doing it because they have to, you will see them complaining, which is something that we all can go without. The thought of knowing the Hebrew alphabet was so exciting to me, whereas some of my classmates were disappointed. I think that things such as education are better received when it is going into an open mind.

Because this is my first Theology course I am not ashamed to say that I am ignorant to a lot of the material. Some things I do know because I went to church as a child as well as a Christian school. However, I am looking forward to learning what will hopefully be an unbiased history of the Bible. I am disappointed that we will be learning information that has been translated so many times and ways, for I don’t know how much I can believe. However I feel as though the Lord will allow me to differentiate the difference between what I do need to absorb and what to ignore as true. I am very excited about learning the Hebrew alphabet because my mentor reads the Tanak and is learning to speak Hebrew through prays and conversation; however she does not have anyone to have conservation with. Therefore I will be able to learn a new language and help her in her studies as well. I would like to analyze the scriptures and be able to draw parallels between then and know and how things have changed. I would like to be able to ponder whether or not life in Biblical times could be considered better or worse than now and why. I would like to be able to pass that judgment or point out my opinion without being chastised. I am not looking forward to the possibility that my answers must coincide with those of the instructor in order to be viewed as correct. I feel as though that is conforming to something that you do not believe to develop the ego of another without just cause. I think that is the single most things that I am worried about in this class. True enough, I’m sure that there can be both a right and wrong answer for many of the questions that will be posed. However I also believe that a lot of the subject matter surrounding the Bible is based on opinion (the different translations and basis) in addition to the fact that some things just have not been proven. In other words, I think that there is room for opinion in a lot of the problems concerning the text and that our responses should not be based on what the instructor wants us to say. If a teacher wants us to regurgitate his lecture then so be it, however I will not agree to the fact that the information is true if it is something that is believed only by the instructor.

I feel that the class schedule is set up relatively well as far as when we have a paper due or an exam. I do think it is a very reading intensive class, but something tells me that is because we have a lot of information to cover in a small amount of time. I do however have doubts about how much we will get done because of the people in the section. It seems as though they like to ask a lot of questions, not for clarification, rather to be smart allics and to postpone the subject matter. This can and I think will become frustrating because it will make things harder as far as outside work because so much class time was wasted. I think that if all of the students in the course will come to grips with the fact that the class is going to be time consuming and a lot of hard work then we will be able to proceed as scheduled.

But back to reality, I am trying to graduate and with that in mind I am trying to do the best I can and earn an A in this course. However I am not a Theology major, thus it is not on the top of my list to get an A in theology before I get one in Zoology, Cell Biology or Biochemistry, Chemistry being my minor. I am fearful that I will get a B in a class that if it was the only class that I was taking I would get an A in, however it is not and the work involved is set up as though it is. With that in mind it has already been stated that I will be trying my best, I hope that my hardest is good enough, and if not I will have to make it enough.

The first problem has already occurred and we are only at the end of week one. As you will note, you are not receiving this blog entry in the blog site, but in an email. I logged into the site in Dr. Homan’s office on Thursday just to make sure that I was registered, I remembered my login and password, for they are the same for everything I use. However when I logged in it would not allow me to enter into the site. I even had them email me my login name and password to ensure that I was typing the correct information. Yet and still I was unable to get into the blog site. I do apologize but this is the only way I was able to show you my responses and I didn’t want it to be late. I am sure you are aware of the word count option and I hope you will use it. My response is 2,015 words long.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 31st, 2004 at 9:31 am and is filed under Project Progress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.