why are you REALLY at SMC?

For a moment, think back to your most stressful year of high school: Junior year. You've taken the tests, worked for the grades, participated in extracurriculars and visited perspective colleges, but why did you eventually choose Saint Mary's? What REALLY brought you to one of the nation's best liberal arts colleges? One thing I know for sure, is that it wasn't the boys...was it?

Virginia Woolf brings to light an interesting point throughout the second chapter of A Room of One's Own. Her interest in gender disparities starts as she observes that women appear to be more interesting to men than men are for women. Soon after, Woolf noticed the anger portrayed in her sketches, and connected it to the life of a woman in society. Modern male writings, according to Woolf, "had been written in the red light of emotion and not in the white light of truth" (32-33). The lack of positive portrayal of women was due to a man's lack of confidence. A man's superiority seems to be on the line in parallel with not only a woman's work, but life in general.

Woolf proposes the utility a woman gives a man socially and personally is a consequence of the "looking-glass vision". This "vision" serves as a reflective power to increase the confidence of males; without it, men are left, in a sense, powerless in a mixed gender society. Throughout history women have lied to and succumbed to the power a man has laid upon them; increasing their confidence and superior self-worth along the way.

Lastly, Woolf predicted the change in the role of woman in later times, OUR time. The liberal woman author foretold, "...in a hundred years, women will have ceased to be the protected sex. Logically they will take part in all the activities and exertions that were once denied them" (40). This quote, undoubtedly my favorite thus far, describes the essence of women in today's society. No more do we want to feel inferior or unappreciated by our male counterparts. No more do we aspire to fulfill their need as confidence boosters, but instead long to challenge them with our own intellect.

Therefore, as a SMC student, can you relate to Woolf's feelings? Do you think she was right? Are you subconsciously/consciously here to challenge, question and put an end to male feelings toward women in today's modern society?

j

Writing = Sleep :-S

a metaphor for writing? do we really ever dwell on how we write as college students as long as the paper gets done?!

at first, of course, I wanted to use something completely unique to my personality and/or what I do regularly: rollerskate, work out, eat, procrastinate...but my actual writing "flow" didn't seem to match...I'm always in a high, intense and emotional state when I skate...and the only emotional state writing a paper puts me in is anguish, frustration and, sometimes, depression...working out gives me energy; definitely not a characteristic I gain from academic writing...eating, well, it's just a habit...and writing a paper is usually the reason why I try to procrastinate until my conscious says, "Jessica, if you want to write a good paper, it's time to approach the guillotine!,"a few days before it's due...

so, I pondered. finally, one word came to me that matched my personality-sleep...like many college students, I love my sleep, but please do not confuse this with a love for writing academic papers; not true...the comparison comes in the way I sleep and the way I write...not the passion for the two...let me explain...

needless to say, I am [NOT] the easiest person to wake up in the morning...I set my alarm, have my boyfriend call me, and set another alarm...only to hit snooze or ignore some mornings...you see, once I'm out of bed and get moving, I'm usually fine...it's getting me to kick off the blankets and move my feet that's the problem...academic writing is the same way for me...I have to find the motivation to actually get started, kick off the blankets in a sense...

sometimes, and I mean very rarely sometimes, I can get excited about where a paper is going...everything's going great and I actually get a little E X C I T E D about the assignment. Of course, all this excitement makes me a little tired, and I need to take a little nap and come back to it a little later... :)

like sleep, it doesn't matter how much time I get, I always want 5 more minutes...likewise, when I have distracted myself for as long as I could (while of course always contemplating the direction I want to take the paper :} ) and return to the computer, I have to push myself to stay focused and alert to the words floating on the the screen...at times, I get so focused on finsihing, I fall into a deep trance (a type of sleep if you will) and nothing can divert my attention...but what happens when I get stuck and can't find the words for what I want to say?

this is where I will remind you of the negatives of sleep...yes, negatives....how bout the nights when you just can't fall asleep no matter WHAT you do...yea, those nights are like the stumps in my writings...sometimes it doesn't matter what I do, or direction I try to take the words...it just doesn't work...finally, I lay the words out and it makes sense...all is cleared and I can move on my way...

this pattern of work reminds me a lot about how I sleep...again, the passion for the later should not be confused as a similar feeling toward the former...but the characteristics are uncanny...but that's the best part....I tried to look for a unique metaphore for me and I found it in the most unlikely place...one of my favorite places is comparable to one of my least favorite academic assignments if thought of in the right context...who knew? :)

j