Wednesday, October 30, 2013

October 30th: Psych out

To keep myself company as I wrote three different papers this weekend, I decided to watch my favorite TV show, Psych, from the beginning. I thought it would be fun to see how far the show has come. Plus, if I watch a show I’ve already seen, I’ll be able to focus on any schoolwork too, right?

Three episodes and two paragraphs later, I was engrossed fully in the show. The most interesting component of viewing was to see the ways in which the show has changed through seven seasons.

Every show has its developments. From season to season, characters change and grow, as do the circumstances around them. In Psych, though, the changes were more intense and more immediate.

Most significant of these changes were the setting and set designs. The pilot had locations that included the police headquarters, Shawn (the main character)’s father’s house, and the Psych office. By the fourth episode, all of these places had changed. The budget had gone up and sets were designed to meet the ongoing needs of the show.

The characters changed too. One of the main characters from the pilot was gone by the second show, and her storyline was wrapped up quickly, just for the sake of continuity.

It’s a scary thought to think that this show was someone’s baby, that they slaved for hours over each intricate detail of the story, and then, when the show was picked up, a network said “yeah, we like it, but there are going to have to be some changes.” It really begs the question as to which is more important: having your story shared to the masses, or having your story be indisputably yours. In this particular case, I would like to believe that the writer is pleased with the end result, and that the creation was a development, rather than a forced change. That makes the show advancements feel organic. Unfortunately, that is the reality of television production.

Further on in the show, there is a clear point where the makers of Psych clearly needed some financial assistance because product placement sprang up. For the first time, you could see Shawn using particular products and having them factor into the cases he is solving. It was startling to see how abrupt the shift was and how instantaneously the products became a part of the show.


Some parts never change, though. From the very beginning, Shawn is quirky and eccentric guy who demonstrates a difficulty with the separation between what is easy and what is right. Juliet, the female detective and love interest, is a key component of the show, and the tension between her and Shawn happens from the moment they meet. While many of the details change as the show progresses, the fundamental basis of the show remains for fans to connect to these incredibly developed and loveable characters.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

October 23rd: 0 for Effort?

I started a new class this morning, a two and a half hour odyssey twice a week. Sociology 100 will not be too much of a challenge, but it’s a class where I hope to gain some pretty interesting insights into the world around me.

The first day of class did not disappoint. My teacher reviewed the syllabus and we had the chance to see exactly how the class was structured. At the end of the conversation about the grade breakdown, though, the professor had one trick up his sleeve. He offered the class the opportunity to take the course without grades. He said that for a few students, if they chose, they could take the class for the feedback, in hopes of improving academically and learning more intensely. The university requires him to submit a grade at the end of the semester, but that grade wouldn’t be discussed throughout the course. It would allow a student to take the course not for the grade but for the resulting knowledge.

I really liked the idea. The concept of learning for the sake of learning, rather than for a letter grade was intriguing to me. I appreciate those who can see past their GPA in favor of acknowledging how much they have learned.

There is the small problem that, when all is said and done, a grade will still be given. In that case, it isn’t worldly or bold to ignore the grades. It’s just negligent. It actually contradicts the point of education, which is to reflect on what has already been done in the hopes of improving and growing for next time. That being said, a class about sociology isn’t necessarily always about the end result but, often, the intention to get there.

The most undervalued part of college is learning, I think. If you were to ask college students why they go to class, very few would say that it is to actually learn. Answers may be to get good grades or because it is what is expected of them. Rarely, though, are classes viewed for the raw learning that comes from them. It was a big step for the professor to see this failure and try to fix it. To not receive a grade and instead be promised the opportunity for an in-depth analysis of the product that you, as a student, are producing could be a huge opportunity for academic growth.

The real basis for this is helping to find what motivates a student. In the grand scheme of things, nobody will care about your GPA. Nobody will care whether or not you even went to class. What will really cause an impact, though, is the extent to which you are able to use the education you have received in the context of the rest of the world. When grades are taken out of the picture, that can be done more honestly and more fluidly.


This isn’t to say that grades should be done away with. In fact, I think grades are a very good evaluator of the way that an individual can demonstrate learning and growth over time. It is, however, the chance to put those grades into some kind of context that will more thoroughly and thoughtfully help college students as they use their knowledge later on down the road.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

October 16: God Only Knows

I ate the same sandwich I always eat. I drank the same drink I always drink. I sat in the same seat I always sit in. But everything was most definitely not the same.

As I was eating lunch in one of the University cafeterias on campus, I noticed a pair of girls sit down at a table just next to mine. As they sat down, I couldn’t help but hear one say to the other “hey, do you wanna pray before we eat?” The other girl thought about it for a moment and agreed.

The prayer was pretty basic. The girl who was giving the prayer thanked Jesus for giving them food to eat and for making the two of them friends. She thanked him for the beautiful day outside and prayed that she would do ok on her upcoming math class. She finished with a simple “Thank you.”

I was struck by two emotions that hit back-to-back. First, I was uncomfortable. Almost immediately after, I was disappointed in myself for being uncomfortable. As someone who is deeply religious myself, why would a pair of girls thanking their god for the food they were eating make me disconcerted?

The problem is that religion has been demonized in far too much of our culture and our society. There are two options: you are either a crazy Christian or a godless atheist. There is almost no middle ground.

My experience with extremely religious Christianity has, disappointingly, been dominated by preachers promising my damnation and that of my friends and family, young men and women trying to sway me from my own faith, and the ignorant believers who read a certain Book a little too literally. Those who are rationally religious are all-too-often shrugged out of the picture, forced to either go to an extreme or be quiet about things.

This is not all that different from what is happening to Islam. We are afraid of anything “Muslim” because the only images we have in our minds of religious Islam are the images we see from the Jihadist Middle East. We underestimate the fact that Islam is no different from any other faith: it is attempting to give practitioners a way to find meaning in the world.

I don’t want people to view my Judaism as crazy or hostile. I don’t want them to think of me as narrow-minded like the depiction of ultra-orthodoxy. I don’t want the assumption to be that, because I am religious, I am incapable of having a logical or scientific discussion.

Sitting at that lunch table, I couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed for being so initially judgmental. Jesus was a smart guy when he said that we should treat others the way we wish to be treated. If I want my religion to be viewed as valid by others, I have to return the favor.

Religion is the moral compass we use to view the world around us. We look at what is right and wrong, and we use the doctrine of a certain faith to help us find meaning. It doesn’t really matter what those teachings are, so long as they provide meaning to the life of the practitioner. We could all use a dose of understanding.


I pray that I can better understand others, and I pray that everyone who calls out to a god, any god, can find peace.