so I may switch to pre-med

[KathrynTheGreat]

Someone's been watching too much Grey's Anatomy.

[Tracy]

yeah i figure its a lot easier to become a doctor and decide not to practice than it is to try and go back to med school when i'm 45. plus it interests me, so even if i dont practice i'll enjoy learning it.

You have to consider the hefty student loans that you'll probably be racking up, too.

I did meet a doctor in the Bay Area who started out as a nursing assistant, decided to become a nurse and then went on to medical school to become an MD.

(BTW-Allopathic medicine is not the only kind of medicine you could study if you want to help people - there's homeopathy and Chinese herbal medicine to name two. And have you tried acupuncture for your back?)

[Dalya]

Hopefully I'll continue making good grades and get a scholarship

[Tracy]

You can also get the government to pay for medical school by agreeing to work in some under served area for a few years like in Northern Exposure (or joining the military)-not sure what their undergrad requirements are, though.

(When we lived in NV, the dad of one of our playgroup kids was a board-certified family practice doctor on the base. I think he was automatically a Lt. Commander after he graduated from med school and had to serve 4 years. He left promptly after his obligation was up. He was a favorite at the clinic. I'm sure he was missed. Anyway, his BS was in engineering.)

[Dalya]

i would love to join the peace corps, or americorp or whatever it is now, or doctors without borders or something. i wonder if they give you scholarships for that kind of thing too.

i was just watching this astronomy thing and the instructor quoted socrates "teaching is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessle." I think that's why i want to switch to a scientific field. it makes me so much more curious than literature classes ever have, plus it gives me more to think and write about. literature already comes easily to me (or reading comprehension anyway), but i think the coolest thing is when you're watching a movie or reading and there is a reference to something you just learned about. or even if it just relates to something you just learned. its so cool to learn about the human body and i think being a doctor doesnt exclude creativity. divinci wasnt a doctor but he was an inventor and mapped the human body, and he was incredibly creative. for me, chemistry and neurology and just learning how everything works is so interesting, and reading is just like a supplemental activity to that. the more i think about it, the more i really really really don't want to be a lit major.

[squeezle]

something about fences and green grass

[Dalya]

dont you mean, something about estrogen and equal opportunity laws. sounds more shauna.

[squeezle]

no, just saying that the foundational courses of any discipline are tedious and that you might feel the same level of frustration with any major. the really fun stuff - advanced theory and such - doesn't come until you get into the upper level courses. right now, the courses are designed to get everyone to the same level - you had a really good high school education and are probably ahead of most. if lit is your passion, don't give up yet. ask your department for permission to take a higher level course or two before you second guess yourself. and don't forget that literature and art also have an amazing ability to ease suffering in the world.

[Dalya]

The problem is that I hate literary criticism. I think it's stupid. Period. And I will have to read it and write essays quoting it as if I think it matters, which it doesn't. ESPECIALLY when they start talking about the authors life and how it's "partially autobiographical". Most books ever written are. Quit fucking talking about it and move on to a new book.

*muttering*

[Dogatron]

watch this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLks-r4Mno8

stephen fry putting late night reviews into room 101. Hilarious.

[Irock]

I LOVE literary criticism, largely due to one amazing professor in particular. She approaches criticism the way one would approach philosophy; most good literary critics aren't really writing about literature, they're talking about art in general, which means they're talking about life. Foucault, Gautier, Wilde, Heidegger, Hegel, Kant these guys have truly mind-expanding things to say. Sometimes it can be dense though (especially Heidegger), and even if your comprehension level is really high, you need a competent guide to help you get all there is to be gotten out of them.

What they have to say so DOES matter. I'm sorry you're not working with professors who are helping you see it that way.

[Dalya]

No, writers do that. I'm sorry but I can't stand someone writing about someone else's writing. And the different theories make no difference. What's the point of reading shakespeare from a feminist perspective? Or reading Chaucer from a psychoanalytical perspective? And then writing about it?

"Shakespeare was a chuavanist." I read that sentence in an essay while researching The Taming of the Shrew. What? Just... WHAT?! Saying that is dumb on so many levels, I don't even know where to begin. That's like saying Moses was a bad Christian.

The good essays I have read aren't even really literary criticism. In that they end up not even talking about the work, which means its not critiquing literature, which means it's just prose. Prose are fine. Someone going on and on about Kafka's upbringing is a waste of my time. I'd rather just read more of his work.

And if you're going to talk about the author's personal life, that's still not literary criticism. That's a brief biography. Which can be helpful with someone like Joyce. But it shouldn't pretend to be something it's not and I shouldn't have to read two paragraphs about the evidence as to whether or not shakespeare went to this or that grammar school in London. How the hell does that help me appreciate his blank verse and double entendres? If they want to help readers, they should put on wigs and act out his plays. That would help.

[Dalya]

p.s. i do like philosophy, but i dont see philosophers the same way.

[squeezle]

even though literature is not my thing, i'm with sunny

[Dalya]

well, can you show me an example of the kind of essay you're talking? maybe i've only ready crappy ones.

i am going to take higher level lit courses this year, so if I suddenly decided I love lit. crit. I won't switch majors. But if I'm still on science, I'll officially change my major this spring.