After talking about Alcott's story "Transcendental Wild Oats", we compared the themes to our lives adjusting to college. While the husband in this story has a lot of spiritual values and a philosophical understanding of the world, he is unable to make his community thrive. That's where the wife comes in. She is practical and logical, able to do the cooking, cleaning, teaching the children, and other things that have to get done.
When we came to St Olaf many of us were excited to start a new adventure. We thought it would be a lot of fun. We would make new friends, try new activities, and learn new things. I'm so glad we have, but then again there is a lot of work that goes on in college. In order to learn, you need to put in the time to read, discuss, write, research, debate, and understand the material and your own ideas. Like Julia said, I too am really glad that people truly want to be here, that we're learning in a community that values hard work. We don't need to be wrapped up in tons of extra-curriculars, but it does help to be a part of groups you enjoy. The challenge for me is bringing together these two aspects of college, the learning and the work that simply needs to get done so you can go on to do fun things.
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