I should be journaling for my culture, health and wellness class. Tomorrow we have a session on immigrant and refugee health and wellness and we are suppose to journal our feelings and reflections before and after the class.

I generally have mixed feelings about our 'softer' courses. While I think the purpose of them is entirely useful, practical, admirable... the application is almost always annoying. Maybe it is because these classes tend to be haphazard and unorganized. The 'message' is usually lost in the mayhem.

I think the most annoying thing is that, unlike our other classes, there seems to be little acknowledgement of the variety in the class. They assume all of us are at square one, which I find odd since one of the criteria that they use to choose students is past expereince volunteering in a variety of things. They know that most of us have travelled and had experience with people in different settings but then treat us like we haven't left the city before. The result of this underestimation is that all of the discussions are pretty superficial. There is always a 'message'. Instead of a complex discussion the classes resemble fairy tales where we are suppose to get the moral. The result is tiresome; exactly the waste of time that proponents of the all hard science and practical skills curriculum claim.
Or maybe I am just starting to freak out about our first certifying exam and am mad at any distraction. 8 days and counting.