Doyin's Blog

This is the last official week of this semster. Three big things for me this week in each of my classes. I have my last Calculus exam before the final on Tuesday, my very last exam in Journalism Democracy (yay for no final!) on Thursday, and a presentation in Yoruba also on Thursday. And then I’m done with these classes. I feel like a formal goodbye letter to each is in order.

Dear Yoruba,

I came to you with very specific expectations. I wanted to learn how to read, write, and speak Yoruba. I guess I was kind of expecting a miracle. My literacy in the Yoruba language has greatly increased of course, but I still suffer from a small vocabulary and an inability to create my own sentences. BUT. There are some great people in that class. And thanks to you, I got to meet them and know them a little better. So even though I didn’t get everything I wanted out of this class, I got more than I bargained for. So I’m not too upset about my shortcomings in Yoruba. ‘Cause we’re working on that. Plus we’ve got three more semesters together.

Dear Journalism and/in Democracy (aka Journalism Democracy),

I only took you because I had to take a signature course some time during my freshman year… And by the time I finally got to register, all the ones that I wanted were taken. So I was stuck with you. And I wasn’t happy about it. You were the only class I had during the morning time, plus you were an hour and a half long. And you sounded incredibly boring. Journalism and/in Democracy? Lame. And you couldn’t even make up your mind what you wanted to be called, what was with the “and/in?” But I’ve gotten over all that, and quite honestly I’ve come to like you (not love, let’s not rush things, now). I am extremely glad that I took this class because in you I wasn’t just learning technical things like a language or the most atrocious math subject out there, but I was learning about things that I could actually apply to my life and future. You’ve affected my outlook on the world around me. You’ve given me more direction in figuring out what I want to do with my life. And you’ve made me a better person. OK, you haven’t really made me a better person. If anything you’ve showed me what a bad person I am, because my ignorance was definitely a bad thing. So thank you for being so darn enlightening… I know this all sounds so cheesy, but it’s true!

Dear Calculus,

I hate your guts. I hope you die a horrible death.

Sincerely,

=Doyin

P.S. My “letters” were to the actual classes, as in the subjects, not the professors, TAs or student in them.