Closing out the First Week

The first full week of class has almost come to a close. I have three more classes today and two classes tomorrow. So far I am enjoying all of my classes. My "Church as 'Public'" class looks as though it will be an immense challenge but well worth the effort that I will put into it. The professor is quite intense during lectures and those lecture periods are two hours long. Thankfully, we only have lecture once a week and small group discussions for an hour later in the week. As an example of the intensity of the class, on Tuesday we spent the entire two hour period trying to define the word "public" and how it is being used when referring to the church, theology, politics, ethics, in relation to private, worship, service, etc. I think my brain was slowly seeping out my ears with the consistency of Jello by the time class was dismissed. But I am enjoying the class and I think in the end I will end up getting quite a bit out of struggling through the material.

I am taking Hebrew as a pass/fail course, at least for this semester. Though I'm somewhat nervous about doing that, overall I think it will be good to know that I can learn Hebrew without the pressure of feeling that if I don't do well it will hurt my overall GPA. Pass/fail basically means that if I get a 70% or higher on the classwork, I pass the class; no letter grade. So hopefully that will prove not to be an issue in the future. And should it become an issue, at least I know that if I do need a grade for the class, I can always take a summer intensive and know that generally I'll be able to breeze through it.

I am currently still jobless, but I have an interview tomorrow at 11AM at the Princeton University Store. Hopefully that will work out and I can stop stressing about how I will eventually make it home for Christmas or how I will afford my books for this semester. So that is encouraging and I'm praying that I will be able to take on some hours.

Other than that, things are going well. I have a core group of guys who I spend time with on a regular basis and typically share meals together with. We have started a weekly group for five us, eating dinner together and sharing our struggles with one another to support each other. It's a good safety net, and I think they will be a good support through this first semester and beyond.

And finally, I am going to be doing some cardio kickboxing on Monday nights to get into shape. The first session was Monday night, and it went well, though I found out how out of shape I am. But it will be good exercise for the week and a chance to take a break from my studies during the week. One of the guys in that core group I mentioned, Jarod, is the one who is leading the sessions, and he is a good leader.

I hope everyone is doing well, and I'll post when I know how my interview went.