Roland Barthes: Among the top three minds I wish I could steal.

I am a Junior. As a student at the College of Wooster, I am required at some point during my Junior Year to complete an Independent Study project. It is intimidating, even though it isn’t my first or final research project at this school. I have a legitimate opportunity to contribute to humanity’s body of knowledge.

The problem: I do not have enough ideas or expertise. Plus, my choice of majors leaves me with little precedent to reference. Data Science and English? While computational statistics offers legitimate avenues of literary analysis, no student at the College of Wooster has taken this path. Because of this, my advisors are in new territory too. I have less guidance than my fellow students have. My Study cannot fit into any sort of easy template either.

I fear venturing into uncharted wilds of knowledge, guided by my creativity and sustained by ambition. How do I stay alive?

I have to start early that’s how. Every month or so, I come up with an idea for Independent Study. I do not know if any of them are good. I might have to explore multiple to find a good one. That is fine. JIS is really just a first dart throw before Senior IS.

I hope I can pioneer this blend of studies for future Wooster students. Leaving that legacy may be a lofty goal, but it might be achievable.

Does anybody else have similar thoughts or anxieties? Is anybody else working on their Independent Study now? If so, I am very curious to hear what you’re working on. It might give me inspiration for my own project.

I collect books as a hobby. When I read a book, it becomes a part of me. And when something is a part of me, it should become just as much a part of my space. So, I collect books and store them like display trophies. Then, I can exhume a conversation out of those books later, mining them for conversation, bringing the book to life once again through a new social dimension.

I listen to video essays for fun. I know I sound like a pretentious intellectual for saying it, but I need to hear someone else’s thoughts or I will be lost in my own.

There are four Jane Austen books on my bookshelf. They are Emma, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, and the famous Pride & Prejudice.

I always read the book before the movie. I won’t understand what’s going on otherwise. It’s the reason I still haven’t seen the Lord of the Rings, as essential as it is for someone of my interests.

Science Fiction and fantasy really only work when read in a book. There is always the potential for infinite context for any conflict. Like a statistical average, the larger the sample, the more precise. A film is too short and condensed to fit the background needed for another complete world.

My favorite word is discourse and I work it into everyday conversation. Language unlocks our capacity to think. New words package new thoughts, and the word ‘discourse’ unlocks an entirely new register.

There is a bolster on my bed. I use it to read, both for school and for pleasure.

I subscribed to the Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine. The classic one. I don’t read all the stories, but when I do, I am blown away by the creativity.

I love D&D more than life itself. I like to write. I like to make characters. I like to make it social. Name a better activity for mashing those appeals.