'university'

Before I came to college I always imagined how amazing it would be. I thought I would learn something new and profound in every class. I thought my professors would be endless fountains of knowledge and that I would barely be able to think fast enough to absorb everything they were saying in their lectures. Well...I have to be honest. In some of my classes at BYU I feel like I am just completely wasting my time and that the only thing the professor knows is exactly what is in the textbook. In fact, this whole past semester I pretty much felt like there was absolutely no point in going to class most of the time. That is really sad considering how much tuition I paid in order to become a more educated individual.

The reason I bring that up is because I want to tell you about the classes and professors I have this semester. Yes, we still have to go to class even though we are in the Holy Land. At first I thought that was kind of a bummer but my classes have already enriched my experience here so much and I am so grateful to have amazing professors to help me understand why all of the places we are visiting are significant. For the first time ever in school I feel like I am getting what I paid for! Yay!

I have seven classes and I love them all!

NES 336-Ancient Near Eastern Studies
This is the class that really makes me feel like I am living the university dream. Brother Skinner knows sooo much about this part of the world. I think he probably actually knows everything. It is absolutely stunning. He is the perfect professor too. When he is lecturing he says things like "we all know (fill in the blank with something I've never even heard of)" and all of us kind of look around with wide eyes to make sure that it wasn't really something we should have known before. He also tells jokes that are so corny they actually end up being funny. He truly believes that when we complete our studies here he will be able to learn something from us also. While I'm not sure if that will be the case I think that it is the perfect attitude and goal for any professor.

NES 347-Arab and Islamic Civilization
This class is taught by Adnan Musallam. Yep, he is a Palestinian native and so we get to hear the story from someone who lives the story every day. It is kind of hard to keep up with him sometimes but it is so cool to have a Palestinian teach us Palestinian history and culture. It is definitely a first hand account and I am learning so much already.

NES 349-Jewish Civilization
Ophir Yarden teaches this course. He is originally from the United States but he has been a practicing Jew for his whole life and he has lived here in Israel for over 20 years. This gives him a unique perspective. He definitely knows his Jewish history but he also knows how to help us as Americans relate to it. This has been a really fun class so far.

NES 395-Jerusalem Center Field Trips
K. This is probably going to be my favorite class of all time. Seroiusly. How is it fair to get college credit for doing fun things like going to Egypt and Jordan and the Galilee and Bethlehem and pretty much every other cool place in Israel?

REL A 303-Old Testament Studies
Brother Huff is amazing. He knows so much about the scriptures and the history that goes with them. You can see in his eyes how much he loves to teach. He really cares about each one of his students. He had almost all of our names memorized after the first class! I come out of each of his classes knowing and understanding so much more than when I went in.

REL A 311-New Testament Studies
This class doesn't start until we are done with the Old Testament. I will have Borther Wilson and I already know it is going to be great. He was on my bus for the field trip this week and I can tell that he knows so much about the scriptures. He also has a great sense of humor which makes everything more fun!

ARAB 100-Introduction to Arabic
My teacher for Arabic is Ayman Jebara and he is one of the funniest peeople I have ever met. It is kind of like they hired an Arabic comedian to teach us. We usually have this class in the late afternoon (naptime) so it is definitely a blessing to have an entertaining teacher. I love learning new languages so I really like this class a lot.