Academia

Although it was difficult to organize, I finally have my academic schedule completed. I am taking five modules:

-Psychological Foundations of Sport and Exercise

-Psychology of Movement Development from Infancy to Adolescence

-Sports Injuries

-Irish Folklore

-Irish Dance and Music (with a practical tutorial in Irish dance)

So far, I have only noticed positive differences between Irish and American university. All of my professors are extremely charismatic and humorous. I have never laughed so much in class in my life. The tutorial leaders (think discussion sections at U of M) would put Pioneer’s Mr. Ashley and JR to shame. The emphasis is on learning and participation. There is no raising your hand in class; instead, the entire room is simply participating in an academic conversation guided by the instructor. Also, all of my final projects are group projects, with groups assigned this week, that I will work with over the course of the semester. The lab for Psychological Foundations of Sport and Exercise is heavily based upon our ability to learn to juggle (really). Today, we spread out in the gym, three tennis balls in hand, and were coached on how to juggle. We will do this every week. Our lab report/major assignment for the end of the semester is to track the emotional, psychological, and physical observations of our own learning experience in this task. We were assured that everyone learns to juggle by the end of the semester. The university’s emphasis on practical education and tangible progress is completely refreshing.

In addition to taking these modules, I’m on the Dance Intervarsity Team and in the International Society. The auditions for the dance team were tonight, and they were absolutely ridiculous/wonderful for me. First of all, the majority of all these fabulous dancers are not super skinny, which means there is no precedent at all for who is lifted. Therefore, I was being lifted, thrown, and flipped all over the place by guys who I prayed had the strength to hold me above their heads. Also, there was a solo improvisation section in the audition, which I was completely unaware of. I just told them to throw on a song that I could perform lyrical to. They did, and I went for it. As uncomfortable as it was, the improv payed off, because they asked if I would want to help work on choreography for a competition piece. The rest of the audition was fairly standard, learning and performing a jazz and hip hop routine. Apparently there is a competition the first week in March, so there will be a very heavy rehearsal load for the next few weeks. Thank god. I couldn’t be happier.
Dance UL Website