Neat, Neat, Neat

The coolest professor to wear cargo pants.

The moment I woke up this morning I saw the sun from my window and thought I was late. I quickly jumped out of bed, waking up my roommate in the process and looked at the digital clock on my microwave and realized that it was 6:00 AM--no reason to panic. I fell asleep again and then woke up at 7:30 AM and began my morning routine. Unfortunately I could not go jogging in the morning because I was much too tired from reading Locke at such late an hour the night before. 

I got to breakfast and ate with some of my cohort, while our "hotelies" were preparing for their presentations today. My weekday breakfast has degenerated to a simple combination of coffee mixed with milk and a banana (which is why I eat a lot for weekday lunches and breakfasts).

Prior to beginning the lecture, Professor Kramnick had some questions to ask the class concerning our weekends. He asked if we went to Buttermilk Falls, the Ithaca Farmer's Market and even the Ithaca Mall--at which point he exclaimed "Oh my God!" in the astonished voice of a 14-year old social media savvy girl, as a response to some of our class's replies. Getting to the lecture, Professor Kramnick's main focus of the day simply said was the rise of the individual, with Lockean philosophy all over the place. As always, he began with some contextual background concerning when and where the philosopher lived. He explained the conflict between the the Stuarts (Catholic) and the Protestants of England who were fighting over the throne immediately after the Commonwealth of England period. I slowly began to remember all the history facts concerning this time period from studying European History during the school year. 

Lunch food.

He explained how Locke was simply voicing the common thought of his day where the individual could become someone, so long as hard work was completed and one could take as much land as he could utilize. Furthermore, it coincided with the other big trend of the era that was capitalism. The economic system fashioned out in a book by Adam Smith, can be considered a result of the Protestant Reformation, for Protestants were allowed far more autonomy as individuals as opposed to Catholics who were more entrapped in the "community." Towards the end of the presentation, Professor Kramnick coughed, and then coughed again--eventually it turned into sporadic coughs that made it sound as if he was slowly dying. I felt bad because I had no water on me to offer him but thankfully the lecture was just about over and he also thought it was best if he stopped.

The discussion with Vijay was centered on Locke's most important principles including how he believed in natural laws which everyone is born with. They are basically inalienable rights, including those of the right to life, liberty and property. Not only that, but Locke also promoted religious tolerance for all Christians, excluding Catholics and all non-Christians. Furthermore, everyone has the ability to execute the law so long as someone violated the natural law(s) in some way shape or form. We also turned in our rough draft essays and went over how to create an effective thesis.

Right after class Carla, Natalie and I all went to the Cornell Bookstore because we all wanted to see some products and Natalie needed to mail some postcards. I found a really nice Cornell cap that was on sale and so I bought it. 

My new hat.

Afterwords we all went back to our dorms and me and Natalie decided to visit our TA Vijay for critique on our essays and for information on the upcoming midterm. We both spent collectively about 50 minutes getting feedback on our essays and he hinted very little as to what to expect on the midterm. At least we both have a better perspective on what he expects to see on the essay. 

SO MUCH SUGAR.

Immediately after we went back to our dorms again, I decided to have a 30 minute rest and remembered that I needed to go for a jog, so I began around 5:30 PM and ended at 6:00 PM. It was less exhaustive than the last two times but VERY HOT outside--I haven't sweated like this since cross-country. Well it was exactly the work out I needed and not too long after the entire cohort went to dinner. As usual, I ate a whole lot--a little of everything and finished it all off with some chocolate cranberry ice-cream with soft-serve on top. Looks like I'll be jogging on Wednesday and I have to study for the test so I'll fill you guys in on the next blog.