I was just doing some random journaling and thought of Dr. Overton, my Poli Sci professor at Morgan State University. He inspired a passion for Middle East politics in me, and taught me how to THINK about everything. Not what to think, HOW to think. We all thought it quite strange that there was no textbook, no syllabus, no curriculum, per se. Our belief that this was going to be an Easy A course lasted but a day. Our assignments and requirements started with daily reading of the New York Times and Washington Post. Cover to cover. On Fridays, we were quizzed about what we had read. Five questions, one essay. It was not at all unusual for one of those questions to be, What was the name of the department store that advertised $30 coats on page 9? or What was the primary story on page 16 of the sports section? Then, we were asked to select one topic from a list of three, relating to articles that appeared that week. Articles that could have appeared anywhere, at any time during the week. The weekly challenge was to condense everything I had read and assimilated, and produce an essay that reflected what I thought, what I believed, and what the article ACTUALLY said. It was, at its core, a daunting challenge. I was challenged to not only draw out my own ideas and beliefs, but to recognize others. I learned how THINK and REASON and COMMUNICATE those ideas and beliefs. It is what I was trained by the very best to do.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 20:13:48 +0000
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