I, Curtis

Category: Academic

  • Spring 2011 Grades

  • Best Instructor Compliment Ever

    Just got an email from my SOCI 340 “Criminology” instructor regarding my grade on my theoretical analysis paper and my final grade. The last line of the email was the greatest compliment any instructor has ever given me:

    “Congratulations and perhaps you should consider graduate work.”

    In all of my considerations for grad school, I have always had doubts about my own abilities to handle graduate level work, but this gives me more confidence in my abilities, especially since in the same email I am told of my “analytic” abilities.

  • All That Remains

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    It comes down to this. Two discussion posts, one project/paper, and five final exams.

  • Not much longer

    Last weekend wasn’t as rough as I thought it would be. All of my assignments got finished on time and I more or less feel good about them. This week there are several small assignments and a few papers, overall nothing I haven’t handled before. After this weekend, it is all basically over for me. There will be a few final exams, but nothing more in the way of actual classwork. I don’t really know what I’m going to do with the free time. I think this semester has flown by way too quickly and I’m going to miss it.

    In some ways this entire process is a bit surreal.

  • Adjusted Weekend

    It might look a little more like a bloody weekend now, but I think I have managed to move things around and schedule them in times that are better suited to a productive schedule, most notably, moving the higher-pressure items off of the 15th and 16th dates and giving them dedicated days to be worked on, and partially by overloading some of the days this week with work so that I can have a little less to focus at once.

  • Worrisome Weekend

  • Graduation Announcement

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  • Academic Timetable

    • April 11 – Registration opens for Summer courses at Fayetteville
    • April 15 – All final projects due
      • PSYC 430 Paper: Differences of Gender in Domestic Violence Initiation
      • SOCI 340 Paper: Theoretical Analysis (Jesse James Hollywood)
      • SOCI 360 Presentation: Routine Activities Theory
      • SOCI 412 Project: Cross Cultural Linguistic Acquisition
    • April 18 – Regalia is shipped
    • April 25 – Final Exams Open
    • April 30 – Final Exams Complete
    • May 1 – Final Graduation Clearance Begins
    • May 6 @9:45am – Graduation Rehearsal
    • May 7 @7:30am – Graduation Assembly
    • May 7 @9:00am – Graduation

  • Improvement of Society

    With my present course load of sociology courses I find myself caught in numerous debates about things that could improve society, or things that would make culture more safe. To me it seems that sociologists (and people in general) are looking in the wrong place. How can we ever expect to fix the ills of society as a whole? In my perception, “society” is not real. “Society” is a conception of the mind that exists when more than one person is involved. The problem with trying to apply fixes to the general society is that we are applying these fixes to an illusion. It is my belief that to improve society we must first improve individuals.

    It is concerning to think that a person might decide to not do something because it is illegal. If a behavior is wrong, why must it be illegal before someone stops doing it? Humans for too long have functioned from survival instincts, trying to do what is best for the self, and not what is best for the species or the whole. Why is altruism not a default human trait at this point? I don’t ever think of myself as perfect, or anywhere close, but I do try to think of my actions in terms of what it means for others and whether or not I think that the behavior is “right” (or moral).

    The problem with society is the individuals. Individuals are responding to what is “expected” in society, whether it is being successful or a social obligation to simply be deviant. Where is the conscience? Where is the self-control?

    This line of thinking was brought about by an interesting conversation in Deviant Behavior today, about the topic of legalizing prostitution. The majority of the class seems to feel that legalizing prostitution would be a negative thing. I agree that prostitution in itself may be negative and is certainly a deviation of social expectations, but on the topic of legalization, there is a lot more to be considered. Do we really need to have laws for such a thing? Do we need to tell people what they can and cannot do with their bodies in our society? It seems to me that it may almost be beyond the scope of what a rational government should dictate to its citizens. One individual in my class said that prostitution should be illegal because she did not want to think about the prospect of her son having access to prostitutes. First of all, if it were legalized, there would likely be additional safeguards in place (such as an ID check for age verification), and second, shouldn’t this concerned mother simply be teacher her child values that would help him make good decisions rather than counting on legislative action to protect him?  Another comment on the topic that has me concerned about the state of society was this one individual who was worried about prostitutes being able to increase their revenue if prostitution were legalized and be able to “take money away from the rest of us who make an honest living at a 9-5”. To me that comment screams discrimination. Just because a person makes more money than you at something that you disagree with, why does that make them automatically a target for your hate? I personally find Justin Bieber deplorable and certainly overpaid, but I don’t have this type of animosity toward him, not do I have a desire to see laws written that would hinder his rights to sell his body in the way that he wishes.

    Maybe I’m just crazy and have been around the academics too long, but I think that it is time for a different type of social reform, one which encourages individuals to be rehabilitated into society, not incarcerated, and generally a society where individuals are taught to respect each other and to exercise self-control and not be always driven for selfish gain.

  • Status of Degree Programs

    Bachelor of Science in Psychology
    0 hours remaining – pending completion in Spring 2011.
    Candidacy confirmed 8 March 2011.

    Bachelor of Arts in Sociology
    Program not yet (officially) started.
    Officially admitted on 9 March 2011.
    Awaiting advisor assignment.
    15 – 21 credit hours remaining.
    If pursued, can be completed as soon as Fall 2011.

    Associate of Fine Arts
    16 credit hours remaining.
    Gradually completing requirements
    Completion date unknown.

    Associate of Applied Sciences in Computer Programming
    30 credit hours remaining.
    Limited personal desire to complete program.

     

    It is interesting to look back at my academic records in a transitional time such as this, as it sheds some clarity on my desires in life as well as shows where things have changed, how I have changed. Perhaps the most interesting thing for me is the fact that I am perfectly willing to abandon the Computer Programming degree. I used to want to be a programmer, it seemed like a rewarding career option, but then things changed and I got deeper into Computer Science and realized that my interest in the topic did not run that deep, but that I was more interested in using computer programming as a tool to help with other pursuits in my life. I would love to at some point utilize what I know in research and perhaps one day in psychological treatment/analysis scenarios.

    The Associate of Fine Arts degree is one of whimsy and curiosity. I am very close (1 semester) to completing it, but I am not prepared to put the rest of my life on hold so that I can knock out that one degree. The degree is interesting to me because it would give me more exposure to art concepts and creative attributes that interest me, but the degree itself is a mere novelty. I suspect one day I will complete this degree, even if it does come after a PhD.

    The Bachelor of Arts in Sociology is an unlikely degree because of the timing of things. I am going to take some courses in the program during the summer, and leave the program as a backup option. It is presently intended that by the Fall semester this particular program will have been superseded by a graduate certificate program. Still, it feels good to have a backup program. At the current time I am awaiting an advisor to be assigned that can determine if I qualify for course substitutions that would allow me to complete the degree in 15 hours or less.

    The Bachelor of Science in Psychology is at this point almost a certainty. I am on track to graduate and short of an unforeseen circumstance causing a course to not count, I will graduate on 7 May 2011. Final confirmation will be on 30 April 2011 after my final grades post.

     

    I am still applying for admission to graduate programs for the Fall 2011 semester and I am hopeful that at least one will accept me and that I can begin my graduate career and work towards my ultimate goal of a PhD in Clinical Psych (in some form, perhaps PhD in Health Psyc). At the present time my interest is in social interactions and gender roles in society.