Home for Thanksgiving

Here I am. I'm home. I got in Friday night. I got sick last week because I eat some chili Sunday night and then went out to Panera to study and drink coffee. They have free refills which is why I like to go there on top of the free wi-fi. I had a lot of coffee, too much. It didn't agree with my stomach too much and so I went to bed hoping I'd be better in the morning. I woke up a little after 6am Monday and knew it was unavoidable. Suffice it to say, I got familiar with the inside of the toliet bowl, and was in bed for the rest of the day except for my one class which I forced myself to go to. All day and the next couple, I had a major headache. It was probably all the toxins from whatever I ate (the chili or the coffee) going through my system. Now I'm home till next Sunday (one week from today). However, this is no leisure break. I have 2 weeks to write four 8-10 page papers and I don't even know exactly what I'm writing on yet. ... Yeah, so... the problem is that three of the papers are all due at the same exact time because they're all for Muller and his due date is the same from all three classes I'm in of his. Usually my main motivation (last minute panic) gets them done, but that's not really going to work in this case, so I need to create my own deadlines. Yesterday I studied for approx. 9-10 hours and I hope to keep that kind of a pace going. Oh well, keep me in your prayers, I'm sure you realize, I need them.

Brief Update of Major Things

I thought I'd just post some of the things that have happened or changed in my life since I last posted.

Med School

Probably one of the biggest changes in my plans is that I am no longer intending to be a lawyer. Very shortly after I took the LSAT (163/89% btw) I spoke with a doctor friend and he got me thinking about being a doctor. After doing some research and prayer I really felt that I was called to be a doctor. That changes my plans quite a bit. Instead of being able to jump right into law school after my graduation I have to take at least one year off to do pre-med requirements. Then Medical school itself is a year longer than law school (four years). After med school you're still not done. You need to do another 3/4+ years of your residency where you specialize as a family practitioner, pediatrician, etc.

Summer Classes

I took biology and chemistry at College of Lake County over the summer. I was first taking them to get my science requirements out of the way so I can graduate early, but when I decided mid-way through the summer that I was going to pursue a career in medicine, they became slightly more important to me and my future education. I actually find science enjoyable and it is not as hard as I always thought it was.

Maggie

Most important change for me has to be that Maggie and I have been reunited in our love for each other. We are, however, still not engaged because the prospect of marriage is still far in the future. I love you Maggie.

Ave Maria - Michigan - Fall 05

I am now more than half way through this fall semester of my last year of undergraduate education. I am taking excellent classes, all of them. It is an utter tragedy that this great school is closing down. Hopefully a new one will take its place in the future, we need all the good Catholic colleges we can get. They are one of the most important things for the soul of America right now. Anyways, I am taking:

Ancient Philosophy:

Pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, St. Augustine

I'm writing my term paper on Aristotle's hylomorphic theory and its applicability (or lack thereof) to persons.

Modern Philosophy:

Descartes, Malbranche, Leibniz, Spinoza, Locke, Hobbes, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Fichte, Kierkegaard, Aeterni Patris, and more to come... I gave a presentation on Hegel and I'm scheduled to give a presentation on Satre and 20th Century Existentialism this coming Thursday. I might write my term paper on Kierkegaard or phenomenology, we'll see.

Political Philosophy:

Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, St. Thomas, Luther, Locke, Hobbes, Machiavelli, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Adam Smith... and more to come. I'm going to be giving a presentation and writing my term paper on Russell Kirk and the modern Conservative movement.

Issues of the Age:

My favorite class by far. Dr. Fedoryka is the man. We've been discussing what masculinity and femininity are and how we can understand homosexuality from a philosophical perspective something that is missing in the Christian opposition to homosexuality. We're going to be delving into Punishment (and Capital Punishment specifically) in the upcoming weeks. I can't wait to write the paper on homosexuality.

Physics

Good class. Not much to say about it though, it's not philosophy. ;-)

Happy Birthday Tommy!

Tommy's the reason why I decided to post. Today is "post day" in honor of the father of blogging. Cheers!