History 101

Ever have one of those moments when you go to lecture only to have your mind just completely blown away? Little did you know that when you entered through the doors of that lecture hall, dazed and confused, that 45 minutes later you would just have your whole world turned upside down. Pretty darn amazing.

I've mentioned this before, but its a new semester and a new history of experience with a new professor (new to me, not fresh PhD). And as part of my job, I get to sit in on weekly lectures--this can prove to be boring and a waste of time. Only with this new professor, I realized this week just how much I miss attending really good lectures. I mean, I haven't sat in a lecture to have my mind blown away in like 3ish years. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my advisor and learn a lot in her classes, but I never really had that mind boggling experience described above while I sat in her lectures.

As an undergrad, I remember having just amazing lectures. People always (give me crap) question why it is that I never changed my major to Classics; why did I choose to stay in the "inferior" Humanities side of the department. I firmly believe now that it was on the strength of the lectures I had as a Hum major that I never desired to be elsewhere. I mean, I was just so engaged, so invested, so transfixed in the world created by my professors during their lectures. Just. So. Enthralled. I'm not sure if I talked about it on this blog, but seriously within a semester's worth of lectures I think I must have cried like 5 times, and nearly cried almost twice that. Everything was alive; everything felt weighty and had a purpose.

I can't believe how long it has been since I've had one of those moments. I miss having that. So I'm really excited to sit in on this history 101 course. It reminds me of what it feels like to have my curiosity peaked, to feel the material come alive, and to experience a sense of history in ways I couldn't even conceptualize before. How lucky:)