I’ve been feeling sort of frustrated lately. I suppose this is mostly because I’m taking a fifth year at Evergreen (and further enjoying the status of super senior-dom) — it feels like my work over the last four years has been unfocused. Perhaps I am falling into the trap of feeling like I should have a major in a school that doesn’t in any way support majors. There’s nothing technically wrong with having skipped around in disciplines and studied so many different things; such is the essence of a liberal arts college, and, indeed, the essence of a liberal arts degree.
Yet still, it feels as if I should be able to point at my degree and be able to say that I earned something specific. Currently, my résumé suggests that I am graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with a focus on Writing — my transcript and my credits seem to back this up, but it seems a flimsy argument at the moment because I have yet to write my summative evaluation, the document which will, once and for all, settle what my Evergreen education allowed me to learn. Perhaps this is what’s bugging me — I can’t be sure because it’s hard for me to translate it into words.
Just to give an idea of the range of the work I’ve done:
- Fall/Winter/Spring 2001-2002: Trash with Cynthia Kennedy, Sonja Wiedenhaupt, and Sharon Anthony — environmental studies, psychology, introduction to writing, business, ethics
- Fall/Winter 2002-2003: Taking the Pulse with Cynthia Kennedy, Toska Olson, and Dean Olson (now retired) — business, statistics, business ethics, writing of ethical case studies/thesis-based writing
- Spring 2003: Algebra to Algorithms with Judy Cushing and Allen Mauney — mathematics, philosophy of mathematics, thesis-based writing, Logo programming
- Spring 2003: Practice of Professional Tutoring with Sandra Yannone — philosophy of tutoring writing
- Summer 2003: A Writer’s Feast with Evan Shopper, Nancy Parkes — fiction writing, writing workshops
- Fall/Winter/Spring 2003-2004: Data to Information with Brian Walter, John Cushing, and Neal Nelson — computer programming in Haskell and Java, philosophy of computer science, thesis-based writing, ethics, computer architecture
- Fall 2004: Power in American Society with Larry Mosqueda — political science, history of the U.S., thesis-based writing
- Winter 2004: The Novel: Life and Form with Thad Curtz — literary analysis of British/French literature, written literary analysis, thesis-based writing
- Spring 2004: Inkslingers: Creative Writing with Michael Radelich (independent contract sponsor) — fiction writing
I guess I’m waiting for inspiration, and it’s not working out too well.