May 5, 2015 - 02:36
Even though we had our last class inside, I felt like people were more free (I don't think freer is a word). The chocolate and clementines were such a nice touch (Thank you Anne!) To me, this final class felt like a dinner party/award ceremony/celebration/social. A celebration of all of our work. I don't know if we would have this same feeling if we were outside, in an open space. Bryn Mawr's outside is kind of crowded. There's a lot of activity, buzz from the cars, people like to wander too much and would ineveitably end up in "our space:. In a way, the classroom served its purpose of centering us off, and allowing us to reflect within ourselves which I feel like was a main theme of the last class. There was a glimmer in people's eyes, of what I'm not too sure. People also lingered even after class was finished, after the evaluations. I wasn't even sure of when I should have left. Some people spent extra time packing their bags or talking about. I felt confusion and denial in the air. Maybe it was because Anne wasn't there to help guide us out. Maybe it was because we wanted class to last just a little longer. Maybe we were all realizing how fast the semester went by and that it was actually coming to a close. I'm a fan of the inside, just because I feel like the classroom's purpose is for us to learn, whereas the outside there are so many things to do, so what we've come to do gets compromised by the possibilities and happenings of the outside. Not allowing them in by using a classrom could be considered "unecological," but if we don't get as much in as we could have inefficiency comes into play. I think this whole semester, we've gotten the best of both worlds (inside and outside) without having to compromise much, much of this is due to the weather/nature. I wonder how a class would go if every class was outside and there was no "home base." All I can say is, I'm glad we have a place we can consider our "base," to bring us back...to where it all began.