Ever wonder what was going through your head the first semester of college? How about the first three weeks? weeeeell, I wrote myself a letter about ASU, and I wanted to share it with you. Its refreshing to revisit the memory given that I graduate in just 2 weeks.
ASU
ASU…. Arizona State University, A dyslexic representation of the United States of America. This place is amazing to say the least. I’m loving it. Class has been a blast. My honors teacher Dr. Susser looks to be around twenty five maybe thirty, when in fact he is forty, he speaks quickly but with amazing intelligence. Every time I enter that class I am held in awe. We discuss and move through subjects at a stunningly fast pace, and yet we still have so much more to do. He has us reading Beowulf the Seamus Heany translation, Tao de Ching, Homer’s the Odyssey translated by Stanley Lombardo and Hackett, and Plato’s Symposium. These books are wonderful representations of the texts, rich and flowing they grab your attention and allow you to journey through the books without hesitation.
Then there is Dance… Latin/Swing Ballroom level one. What an amazing class, we dance for two and a half hours per class and most times I go an hour earlier to join in the class before mine, I’m going to go to Wednesdays class even though I’m not enrolled just because I love it so much. The teacher Larry Caves is a wonderful instructor, with a soft lead style he teaches us to rely more on a woman’s ability to respond to the movement of a mans body rather than physical stimuli of his hand pushing her shoulder or hip… I love it. Its sexual, its seductive, its down right fun. I’ve learned the basics and am improving in the following dances: Basic Argentinian Tango, Foxtrot, Swing, Salsa, Waltz, Roomba, and the Cha Cha. Class has been an absolute blast, there are approximately ninety people in the class and the male to female ratio is about one and a half to one which means men are never without a partner (yay). Its also been a ton of fun because we switch partners every few minuets so there is no one style of dancing that you learn, you have to be able to adjust and move with your dance partner.
As a result of taking the dance class Alex, myself, and others from the class (including Steve-o… he’s good…) go Salsa dancing every Thursday and Sunday, then on Saturday we go and dance swing at another club. This has been so much fun. I’ve learned new steps, and am constantly improving at dance. So far I’m loving every moment of it. Not to mention the large amount of extremely attractive young women who just love to dance… although that’s not really much incentive… really… its… well… alright… yeah it is.
The classes for my major aren’t bad, perhaps a little boring here and there (sociology/psychology/global culture/Chinese culture) but so far have peaked my interest and look to be interesting.
I miss theater a little, but the nice little bonus I got from ACT. Made me feel a lot better about that experience. Someone has my damn notes which were personal… but whatever. Back to the subject, I miss being able to step into the dark theatre space and center myself before a show, the stage all to myself, the house empty, just me and the infinite space that theater is, let my imagination and mind run rampant and blank out. Feel the currents of air brush at my neck, the whisper of the air conditioning, the murmur of cloth shifting in the fly space. Music and laughter, the frustration, tears and blood that I shed in that beautiful place. On that note though I made my peace with that space and all the memories it held the night before I left. I got to go in, sit on the stage, late at night, center myself and thank that glorious space for everything it has taught me and given me. The relationships, the pain, the sorrow, the futility and pointless anger and argument there… Goodbye my theater. Those memories will always be carried with me, all in some respect positive no matter how painful.
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