The Summer Of Greatness

 

Great Books Summer was the highlight of my summer. Great food, great company, and most of all great books contributed to an enticing environment. We students read and studied the books Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis and Introduction to Great Books by the Great Books Foundation. We also wrote several essays based on the texts we read this summer: an essay on our relationship with learning, an essay on interpreting an author’s work, and a creative essay, in which, we wrote a myth (my personal favorite writing project of the summer). We ended the writing projects with lengthening our interpretive essays into a final paper. I dearly enjoyed reading and writing, but the week I spent at Faulkner was my favorite part of the program.

Every day of the week at Faulkner, we discussed the different texts in detail; each of the students helping each other understand the texts to a better capability. Each evening was spent highlighting a different department of the university. We reached a better understanding of A.I. and the way it could affect us in the future from the Computer Science section. We were able to explore their new building in its construction state, hopefully, the new computer science building will be ready in time for the upcoming semester! The business department had us play a couple games which taught us a bit more about how a business is run and maintained. The Bible department encouraged us to always keep God at the center of our life both in college and in future careers while the education department had us draw symbol of what a teacher should represent. Jess and Robby drew a book over a heart with cap topping it off.  Ashlyn and I drew an apple shaped like a heart (which unfortunately looked more like a strawberry) underneath a vibrant rainbow. The words Empathy and knowledge framed the apple on the top and bottom. Finally, we visited the Health Sciences department and were able to learn how Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists use all their nifty tools and resources.

 I was able to experience my first escape room (it’s been on my bucket list since I was thirteen), watched a thriller called Rear Window, learned a few self-defense moves in martial arts, and saw a musical theater production of Footloose. We also volunteered at Camp ABLE (YMCA camp for the disabled). Ashlyn and I volunteered with the kiddos for a few hours, while the rest of the group played a soccer game with the older kids/teens. Although we had the mouthwatering burgers on our first night, we were able to expand our palates at other restaurants such as SaZa (Italian), Sol (Mexican), Osaka (Japanese sushi and steak house), and of course—the Lord’s chicken from Chick-fil-a.

We students quickly learned the traditions of the Great Books classroom. When the mortality clock chimes, the whole class goes silent and are supposed to think about our deaths. It’s always hard to keep from giggling when the whole room dispenses into silence, especially after discussing a funny topic. Jess commented that the way she combatted her laughter was by thinking of the horrible ways a person could die. If we ever started a statement saying I feel when we really meant I think, we had to cluck like a chicken. Another tradition is when a person says something funny or bizarre, then someone could claim the quote and place it on the board. Dr. Jacobs said it usually takes a semester to fill both boards, but we were able to fill one board in only the span of a week. Overall, I feel like we all had a lot of fun and cannot wait to go back to Faulkner in a couple of weeks. Cluck cluck