Samantha Hirschman | Blogger
October. Wow. Has it really been this long already?
We are just beginning our week 6 of school, which means the 7th week of being away from home. The first month, probably longer than that, was rough. I was constantly fighting myself to be comfortable with being here. I was not adjusting to this new culture well, still I struggle, but it has become much easier.
School is going well. I’ve had great results on the assignments I have had so far. In my management class, I have received great results from the professor about my responses to different scenarios. (I’ve even been reading the text, because surprisingly, I find it interesting.) I’m using my knowledge of communication and digital media in my Political Communication class. The Poli Comm class is very diverse in the sense that we have all come from different cultures and different educational backgrounds. Many in the class are Politics majors, where a few of us are Communication Studies majors. The class has students from the states, Columbia, France, and Italy. I am constantly feeling more comfortable with my Italian when I go to the store, the post office, the bar/café, and with transportation. In Storytelling/Concept Development, by far my favorite class this semester, I have been learning what inspires my writing. I am identifying the characters, settings, and themes I want to write about. I am finding my “Artistic Identity.”
This semester, educationally, is much different from what I normally would experience. At BVU, I would be constantly busy with clubs and school events. This semester, I am away from my organizational duties. I am substantially less busy than what I am used to. My classes also have less daily work – more projects and only midterm/final: another thing that is different. Last week, I ordered a novel called The Deepest Waters by Dan Walsh. I finished it in 3 days. Very unlike me. Also unlike me, I bought 3 more reading books. It’s crazy how much time you have when you’re not involved in different groups and organizations. Apparently enough time to read for personal enjoyment.
I never got into reading. I’ve read maybe a couple handfuls of books for joy reading, but all are the same author: Nicholas Sparks. Since I’ve read most, if not all, of his books, I decided to look up “similar authors to Nicholas Sparks.” I found Dan Walsh. He is a christian who writes fiction. The book I read was romance. It was absolutely wonderful. I’m finding myself more and more interested in reading, however, and I think it’s because I now know what kind of books I like. Who knows, maybe I’ll keep this hobby when I get back to Iowa.
