Thank you lord for school breaks. There is ootles of research about how long students can concentrate on one subject at a time without taking a break. The general consensus among educators is that students cannot focus for more than 50 minutes. I would like to do a similar study evaluating how long college students can take classes without a break. My personal take on it, is no longer than four consecutive weeks. This is the end of week four and we are ready for a break!
I will be traveling home to Seattle for 10 days to hang with old friends in my favorite restaurants and coffee houses. Needless to say, I am excited. I am having a good quarter, learning amazing things in classes I really enjoy, but there is only so much the human brain can absorb before shutting off. I look forward to the opportunity for the information to marinate. So happy people, I will be away having fun and giving my brain a rest. See you all in a couple of weeks.

Learning: Not Just Academic

The classes I am taking this quarter range in the ways in which they push me to grow. On one hand I have a very academicly challenging class that is packed full of new material to be assimilated into my brain and my practice. Interesting but a big challenge. On the other hand I have a class that really pushes my mental and personal boundaries. We are asked to evaluate and deconstruct big topics about our identity and place in the world. Equally as much work but in an entirely different way. I find that by the end of the days, were I have both classes, my mind is swimming! Sure, we are in an institution of academia and we are expected to leave as a competent leader in our field of expertise. But we are also people and that can never be divorced from the work we do in our careers. I think we need to do as much work on ourselves as we do on acquiring information, in order to be successful individuals and members of our society.