Reflection on 2nd Quarter

Second quarter was, in many ways, much more difficult than the first. One good thing I can say is that this is one class where I feel very comfortable sharing my own thoughts, which is not usually true. I truly enjoy the dynamic of our class. It's a great community.

But I feel as though I lost a lot of motivation in second quarter, in this class, and frankly, in school in general. I felt very out-of-focus overall.

Getting through The Republic was tough. The only other book I have read from that point in time is The Odyssey, which I struggled with even more. I disagreed so frequently with Plato, and found his style of explaining ideas exasperating. I wished he would present his ideas in a clearer format. I understand that the purpose of explaining ideas through a dialogue was to show how to arrive at a conclusion, rather than being force-fed information to agree with. But it was frustrating! The wording was also difficult to get through, which I imagine had a lot to do with translating ancient Greek. So I'm sorry to admit that I don't think I got everything I could out of that book. I did the readings, but I did not enjoy them, or have any desire to delve further. I am regretful that I didn't put more into this. It was an interesting experience to read an older philosophical text, especially because this is the first thing we have read directly from that author, as opposed to someone else's interpretations. But I would've gained more from it if I was better focused.

I already wrote a bit about my regrets over writing the song, but I am at least happy that I finally pulled myself together and finished it. I think that my viewpoint in this class started to shift drastically during the debate on imperfect societies. I felt much more engaged. I was able to synthesize a lot of outside information on forms of government, and it made it much easier to relate The Republic to my own life. I am still somewhat surprised that I actually enjoyed debating. Being put on the spot and asked to defend an idea is not something I'm terribly good at it. In the past, I have been pretty awful at eliciting ideas verbally, but I think that I've improved a lot this year.

And the unit on art has been great, I think because it is something all of us can instantly relate to. I was irrationally nervous about playing two songs for the class. I actually had to stop myself from shaking while I was waiting, even though it was a very easy assignment. Natalie and I were talking about how it has something to do with sharing such a personal part of yourself with a group of people. The songs you like make up a part of who you are. I think everyone sharing songs with others actually made us closer as a class. I loved every song I heard, and hearing people explain their own experiences with them made them take on a much deeper meaning.

Anyways, I am looking forward to my last semester of high school, a time where I believe we all start to philosophize a bit more, whether we want to or not.