Bridges

Yesterday, between the end of work and the beginning of a project meeting, I went to a cafe to relax and eat lunch. I brought a textbook, but was more concentrated on keeping soup off of it than reading it. The girl across the table from me asked if the soup was good, and we started talking. She turned out to be a second-year graduate student at BU law school.

We talked about the stresses of finding a job, internships, and the importance of making connections in graduate school for both our majors. She told me that the law students are extremely competitive, which was not a surprise to me. This girl felt no qualms about answering fellow students questions, but it seems that not everyone feels that way. Some students feign ignorance to avoid helping each other. Apparently, at other schools, law students rip pages out of textbooks to try and gain an edge over their classmates.

I can't imagine studying in such a competitive environment. The advertising program involves so many group projects, I feel that being supportive of one another is almost built into the degree. I wonder if extreme competition really makes for better lawyers. Both the law and advertising fields are competitive, but it seems that advertising students work more on forming bridges between one another, while the law students try to cut a bridge's cables once they have crossed it.

Poetry and Prose

Yesterday evening I attended a lecture called, “What is the Difference Between Poetry and Prose?” by Professor Christopher Ricks with a friend from class who studied at BU for undergrad as well. He told me that Professor Ricks was one of his favorites and that they still get together on occassion. After filling our bellies at Espresso Royale, off we went to the talk.

I liked Professor Ricks immediately. He greeted my friend and I warmly, shaking our hands and expressing his happiness in seeing us there. We had arrived about ten minutes early. Soon after, there were no more empty seats. People squeezed in behind the back row, creating a “standing room only” section.

His talk was engaging, both in delivery and subject. His main point was that the difference between poetry and prose is very subtle, if it truly exists at all. He honed in on a difference in grammar and line break meaning as a possible difference. His cadence (and British accent) was extremely pleasant to listen to. He read excerpts from poems and prose like an actor, and was no less composed when responding to questions on the fly.

He also touched on the aesthetic value of poetry – the fact that line breaks can be used to create a visual symbol as well as play with the meaning of the line. This was especially interesting to me, as I studied the aesthetic use of letters to create visuals at Kenyon, culminating in three pieces on the topic for my senior art show.

On Being Studious

I'm writing this blog post from the second floor of the bus on the way to New York City. Soft gray clouds hang low over the forest that spreads away from both sides of the four-lane highway. The fall has been especially yellow here this year. Or maybe I've just forgotten how fall is in Boston- this is the first fall I've spent in New England since high school.

Yesterday I did my second interview with Ellie. We talked a lot about what it is that makes a new place exciting, and agreed that it is exploring. I then realized that I haven't had as much time to explore Boston as I would like to. I'm torn between getting as much out the BU advertising program as I can – which means dedicating most of my time to work – and taking more time to go out in Boston.

Most of the space in the small bag I packed is filled by my computer. Like many students, I tried valiantly all week to get ahead in my workload. And like many students, I still have unfinished assignments to complete. If I'm as productive on this bus ride as I hope to be, I will finally have a work-free weekend, even if it's not in Boston.