Thomas Aquinas comes out #3 on the Top 10 Stone Cold Sober list done by the Princeton Review.
Indiana, Bloomington is #8 on the Top 10 Party School list.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
More Application Stuff
In response to the question: Chose some book you consider to be excellent and write about some important aspect of it. Please do not write a book report. Your answer should be one to two full pages in length. This was the most draining thing I've ever written. I'm not sure why. I think I was too careful in choosing my words, and maybe that is why the writing style is so dense. As my history teacher says, "I want to see some senior level compound sentences, with colons, and semi-colons, and dashes!". I guess I've never found a historian who's writing style was readable. Same with German philosophers.
One of my most important spiritual lessons came from “The Blue Castle.” The only substantive theology in Lucy Maud Montgomery’s novel comes from the mouth of an alcoholic, but despite this the book delivers an important message about Christian freedom. God wants me to follow him like John the Baptist did, with reckless abandon for this world and a carefree nature for everything other than He who is worth of all our care. The character Valancy Sterling’s transformation from needing other’s approval to disregarding the opinions of others is a transformation that is necessary to follow God fully.
By no means did Christ preach worldly acceptance; He says, “If they persecuted me they will persecute you also.” Christians pursue a truth that others do not see, and really are weird because of it. Even more so in today’s society, devout Christians are a small minority and to be a Christian in public is to be essentially different. No doubt along with an active disgust of this world comes the persecution of others. This problem is faced by Valancy Stirling, the heroine of the novel. She has never had even a fleeting opportunity at marriage and has lived her life conforming to the traditions of the upper-class society she was born into. Surrounded by a laughable cast of family who firmly assert both their obnoxious peculiarities and their view of the world on young Valancy, she feels stuck in a life that is controlled by her society, not her will, and she is miserable because of it. She falls into the same hole than Christians can fall into, where the person that God created you to be is suppressed under the you that makes society function smoothly.
Valancy jumps out of this rut when she learns she is going to die in less than a year. She confronts her pitiable state of life that she was always aware of but never addressed. She begins to do what she knows is right and dispenses with the obnoxious formalities of her former life, to the horror of her family. Valancy begins her rebellion at a family dinner where she no longer feigns a laugh at her Uncle’s jokes, she points out the comedic flaws in her aunts and in all ways embraces the spirit of “living” before she dies. Next, she begins working for Roaring Abel, a drunk whose sometimes reckless behavior has earned him the unanimous disproval of Valancy’s town. Valancy begins to truly live, but importantly never does anything sinful. She does not rebel like Adam and Eve rebelled against God; she embraces her own human nature which unfortunately is rebellious. I think many Christians are scared of throwing away oppressive inhibitions like those that Valancy did because rebellion in and of it’s self is viewed as sinful. But clinging to these formalities stems from vanity, and man cannot be truly happy unless he throws away all desires but the desire for God.
Valancy becomes overwhelmingly happy after she begins working for Abel. She no longer lives for the approval of the world but she is lives the life that is natural to her. Christians need to live the same way, because unless we eradicate the pride that encourages us to follow false paths instead of the path God has designed for us we will be truly miserable. Valancy throws away the pride that she once relied on. While at Roaring Abel’s she meets another town recluse, Barney Snaith. After a few meetings Valancy asks Barney to marry her, and he does, albeit under the pretence that Valancy was going to die in less than a year. Valancy earns the rejection of her whole family after they learn that she asked Barney to marry her, yet Valancy is wildly happy, even though the disowning of her family would have crushed her before. Christians need to embrace the same spirit. While marrying the town misfit is unadvisable, living the life God wants you to lead is not only advisable, it is imperative. God does crazy things. Mary was unmarried and God called her to be the mother of His Son. That God actually became fully human and died for us should be crazy enough to assure us that something out of the norm is in store for us.
God calls all of us to do something crazy, like being the town drunk’s handywomen, or marrying the man the town gossips about. But while working for Abel, Valancy is able to nurse and comfort his ill daughter, and the marriage that she haphazardly entered into turns out to be a very good one. What at first seemed to be reckless and foolish really turns out to be something great. We cannot follow God completely unless we accept that God wants to do crazy things with us. We can’t even just accept God’s abnormal methods, we need to embrace them. God created us all to do his work in our own individual ways and to make everybody conform to the straightjacket of social acceptability is ludicrous. God wants us to be truly us and that might make us weird or crazy, but can we hope to be anything different if we truly, fully follow God.
One of my most important spiritual lessons came from “The Blue Castle.” The only substantive theology in Lucy Maud Montgomery’s novel comes from the mouth of an alcoholic, but despite this the book delivers an important message about Christian freedom. God wants me to follow him like John the Baptist did, with reckless abandon for this world and a carefree nature for everything other than He who is worth of all our care. The character Valancy Sterling’s transformation from needing other’s approval to disregarding the opinions of others is a transformation that is necessary to follow God fully.
By no means did Christ preach worldly acceptance; He says, “If they persecuted me they will persecute you also.” Christians pursue a truth that others do not see, and really are weird because of it. Even more so in today’s society, devout Christians are a small minority and to be a Christian in public is to be essentially different. No doubt along with an active disgust of this world comes the persecution of others. This problem is faced by Valancy Stirling, the heroine of the novel. She has never had even a fleeting opportunity at marriage and has lived her life conforming to the traditions of the upper-class society she was born into. Surrounded by a laughable cast of family who firmly assert both their obnoxious peculiarities and their view of the world on young Valancy, she feels stuck in a life that is controlled by her society, not her will, and she is miserable because of it. She falls into the same hole than Christians can fall into, where the person that God created you to be is suppressed under the you that makes society function smoothly.
Valancy jumps out of this rut when she learns she is going to die in less than a year. She confronts her pitiable state of life that she was always aware of but never addressed. She begins to do what she knows is right and dispenses with the obnoxious formalities of her former life, to the horror of her family. Valancy begins her rebellion at a family dinner where she no longer feigns a laugh at her Uncle’s jokes, she points out the comedic flaws in her aunts and in all ways embraces the spirit of “living” before she dies. Next, she begins working for Roaring Abel, a drunk whose sometimes reckless behavior has earned him the unanimous disproval of Valancy’s town. Valancy begins to truly live, but importantly never does anything sinful. She does not rebel like Adam and Eve rebelled against God; she embraces her own human nature which unfortunately is rebellious. I think many Christians are scared of throwing away oppressive inhibitions like those that Valancy did because rebellion in and of it’s self is viewed as sinful. But clinging to these formalities stems from vanity, and man cannot be truly happy unless he throws away all desires but the desire for God.
Valancy becomes overwhelmingly happy after she begins working for Abel. She no longer lives for the approval of the world but she is lives the life that is natural to her. Christians need to live the same way, because unless we eradicate the pride that encourages us to follow false paths instead of the path God has designed for us we will be truly miserable. Valancy throws away the pride that she once relied on. While at Roaring Abel’s she meets another town recluse, Barney Snaith. After a few meetings Valancy asks Barney to marry her, and he does, albeit under the pretence that Valancy was going to die in less than a year. Valancy earns the rejection of her whole family after they learn that she asked Barney to marry her, yet Valancy is wildly happy, even though the disowning of her family would have crushed her before. Christians need to embrace the same spirit. While marrying the town misfit is unadvisable, living the life God wants you to lead is not only advisable, it is imperative. God does crazy things. Mary was unmarried and God called her to be the mother of His Son. That God actually became fully human and died for us should be crazy enough to assure us that something out of the norm is in store for us.
God calls all of us to do something crazy, like being the town drunk’s handywomen, or marrying the man the town gossips about. But while working for Abel, Valancy is able to nurse and comfort his ill daughter, and the marriage that she haphazardly entered into turns out to be a very good one. What at first seemed to be reckless and foolish really turns out to be something great. We cannot follow God completely unless we accept that God wants to do crazy things with us. We can’t even just accept God’s abnormal methods, we need to embrace them. God created us all to do his work in our own individual ways and to make everybody conform to the straightjacket of social acceptability is ludicrous. God wants us to be truly us and that might make us weird or crazy, but can we hope to be anything different if we truly, fully follow God.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
More Application Excerpts
What most attracted you to Thomas Aquinas College?
I was convinced I needed to attend Thomas Aquinas when I read an article that discussed the drinking age, and President Dillon was quoted as saying, "The law can be helpful in establishing good habits, in teaching responsibility and restraint. Pleasure can be a strong attraction, but it also can be harmful." I can’t think of another college where you would hear that!
YES!
I was convinced I needed to attend Thomas Aquinas when I read an article that discussed the drinking age, and President Dillon was quoted as saying, "The law can be helpful in establishing good habits, in teaching responsibility and restraint. Pleasure can be a strong attraction, but it also can be harmful." I can’t think of another college where you would hear that!
YES!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
I want to marry my college!
Mr. Schmalzbauer always finds ways to make simple things symbolic. You might think that the poem is a monolog because... it is a monolog, but in reality the absence of any other characters is crucial. You might think that a jazz musician giving a speach about depravity in jazz is natural, but to Mr. S it is a telling metephor about the person themselves. So today I was faced with a conflict while applying to college, and I realized that it was at first glance a simple thing that was really symbolic. Here is the essay I wrote:
In the same way an alcoholic says, “I don’t have a drinking problem - I find it very easy to drink,” most high school seniors can say, “I don’t have a problem with pride. I can glorify myself in a short statement easily.” I would have said the same thing had I not been in Mr. Lasseter’s philosophy class. Mr. Lasseter taught me, without ever even mentioning the subject, that short personal statements and résumés have a fatal flaw. The truest testament to a man’s character is his past, but résumés don’t reflect the most admirable qualities of men’s pasts, the qualities that would most enrich your community because résumés only reflect measurable qualities.
Most classes have a limited filed of study: biology means “the study of living things” and historia is Latin for “narrative or story, but philosophy’s scope is far more daunting; philosophy teaches the “love of wisdom.” Truly loving wisdom necessitates a mortification of other loves. Wealth, honors and power no longer hold the same grip on man’s soul because philosophy shows that they are fleeting desires that don’t give lasting happiness. With this in mind it is difficult to view the honors I have earned as truly important. Understanding truths about human nature and the universe we live in is a much more gripping achievements, but a résumé isn’t the place for that kind of statement. A college essay might not be.
Sadly, no doubt your only opportunity to understand me as a person comes from this application and in as much as knowing my achievements and experiences give a true testimony to who I am, I have included a résumé. But unfortunately I cannot represent the aspect of character I most respect in others, and would desire most on my résumé. My school’s motto is “Fides, Scientia, Virtus” (Faith, Knowledge, Virtue) and no other qualities of man are as impressive as those three: they are the qualities that make man different from animal.
But there are no meaningful measurements of faith, knowledge or virtue that have a place on a résumé, yet they are the most impressive qualities a man can have. I can say “I have played the saxophone for 7 years” but I cannot say anything to evoke my temperance, moderation or modesty; these types of qualities are immeasurable, and there lies the flaw of résumé’s. They never concentrate on these meaningful statements of character, but always on achievements that have far less weight on a man’s character. Meaningless self-glorification is the main purpose because they only represent qualities of man that are measurable, but the most admirable qualities are immeasurable.
And my dad read over it and said (in summery), "you can't say that. Sometimes you have to tell the man what he want's to hear". And at first I agreed with him, but then I realized that my essay was condemning that view. More over, if I truly believed that my essay was certainly true, do I want to put myself in a school of teachers who were so unlike Mr. Lassetter that they would not even accept a student who was greatly influenced by such a great man? No! I want to attend a college where the teachers read my essay and say "YEAH! This kid has something right going on in his mind". If I get denied based on that essay why would I want to go there anyways. It's like girls: no guy wants to marry a girl that is easy, but you might date her. I'm going to marry my college!
In the same way an alcoholic says, “I don’t have a drinking problem - I find it very easy to drink,” most high school seniors can say, “I don’t have a problem with pride. I can glorify myself in a short statement easily.” I would have said the same thing had I not been in Mr. Lasseter’s philosophy class. Mr. Lasseter taught me, without ever even mentioning the subject, that short personal statements and résumés have a fatal flaw. The truest testament to a man’s character is his past, but résumés don’t reflect the most admirable qualities of men’s pasts, the qualities that would most enrich your community because résumés only reflect measurable qualities.
Most classes have a limited filed of study: biology means “the study of living things” and historia is Latin for “narrative or story, but philosophy’s scope is far more daunting; philosophy teaches the “love of wisdom.” Truly loving wisdom necessitates a mortification of other loves. Wealth, honors and power no longer hold the same grip on man’s soul because philosophy shows that they are fleeting desires that don’t give lasting happiness. With this in mind it is difficult to view the honors I have earned as truly important. Understanding truths about human nature and the universe we live in is a much more gripping achievements, but a résumé isn’t the place for that kind of statement. A college essay might not be.
Sadly, no doubt your only opportunity to understand me as a person comes from this application and in as much as knowing my achievements and experiences give a true testimony to who I am, I have included a résumé. But unfortunately I cannot represent the aspect of character I most respect in others, and would desire most on my résumé. My school’s motto is “Fides, Scientia, Virtus” (Faith, Knowledge, Virtue) and no other qualities of man are as impressive as those three: they are the qualities that make man different from animal.
But there are no meaningful measurements of faith, knowledge or virtue that have a place on a résumé, yet they are the most impressive qualities a man can have. I can say “I have played the saxophone for 7 years” but I cannot say anything to evoke my temperance, moderation or modesty; these types of qualities are immeasurable, and there lies the flaw of résumé’s. They never concentrate on these meaningful statements of character, but always on achievements that have far less weight on a man’s character. Meaningless self-glorification is the main purpose because they only represent qualities of man that are measurable, but the most admirable qualities are immeasurable.
And my dad read over it and said (in summery), "you can't say that. Sometimes you have to tell the man what he want's to hear". And at first I agreed with him, but then I realized that my essay was condemning that view. More over, if I truly believed that my essay was certainly true, do I want to put myself in a school of teachers who were so unlike Mr. Lassetter that they would not even accept a student who was greatly influenced by such a great man? No! I want to attend a college where the teachers read my essay and say "YEAH! This kid has something right going on in his mind". If I get denied based on that essay why would I want to go there anyways. It's like girls: no guy wants to marry a girl that is easy, but you might date her. I'm going to marry my college!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
The Monotony
The status so far:
University of Indiana, Bloomington: Accepted, awaiting audition for acceptance into music program
Berklee School of Music: Awaiting decision and audition
University of Wisconsin, Eau Clair: Awaiting decision and audition
Thomas Aquinas College: Finishing application
Catholic College of Wyoming: Finishing application
University of Indiana, Bloomington: Accepted, awaiting audition for acceptance into music program
Berklee School of Music: Awaiting decision and audition
University of Wisconsin, Eau Clair: Awaiting decision and audition
Thomas Aquinas College: Finishing application
Catholic College of Wyoming: Finishing application
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