First Day of Class (1-9-12)

Well Monday was the first day of Problems in History.  I was a little skeptical of this class at first, it being writing intensive and all, but the professor seems really interesting.  I believe that the first day of class is a lasting impression because most students do not know what to expect from a new teacher, but Professor Butters seems like one of those teachers who absolutely love what he does and really wants the students to get engaged and be able to walk away from a class knowing that they learned a lot of useful things that they can use in the future.  The first class I actually learned something that I have never encountered in my life: that a historical definition has 5 parts!  Throughout the years teachers have led me to believe that basically anything that is stated in print (like a textbook) must be taken as fact.  As I have observed over the last few years, this is simply not true.  I was reading over the class syllabus and it seems like there will be a lot of interesting things in this course.  I am really looking forward to the Lincoln exhibit in the library and the Doris Kearns Goodwin speech.  Being a history major, and someone who simply loves to read, I find it an amazing experience to meet authors.  Over the summer I went to Pigeon Forge TN and actually met the author of "1912 Facts About Titanic," Lee W. Merideth.  I love the Titanic and I have heard his name a lot in my personal researches and was thrilled to meet him.  We talked for a long time and I was able to ask a bunch of questions.  My mom was actually so amazed that she bought me his most recent book and he signed it just for me!  It might sound kind of boring for some people, but I love history and reading, so it was quite the experience for me!  So getting back on track, I haven't read any of Goodwin's books yet, but I plan to go to a bookstore and buy one before we go to the speech and hopefully she will sign it (and hopefully I will have time to do some background research on her and possibly read one of her books!).   And also back to the class, I am super excited to conduct an interview with a person over 60!  My grandparents always say that "the youth now-a-days has no interest in learning from their elders" so it always makes them happy when I ask them about their past and the "good ol' days."  I know we did not cover much on the first day of class, but it was enough to spark my interest.  I look forward to a fun and interesting semester.