I want this on a Shimer shirt. It is beautiful and wonderful and exactly my experience of Shimer. There are incredibly few times that a class ends with every student having reached the same conclusion. Even when it does happen it does not necessarily feel good. What does feel great is having reached a conclusion for yourself. Every student goes into class with different questions about the text and each question is as important as the next. But it is exactly this that makes it impossible for everyone to end in the same place. Through discussion, and argument, little keys to the greater meaning are dropped and discussing one student's question can unlock the answer to your own.

Hi! Yes, it was my class you sat in on. I remember you two. And thank you for the high praise! The painting class was a Shimer class. We did original source readings while learning to paint. Art classes are also available for Shimer credit at Harold Washington Community College, but this class was taught at Shimer by a Shimer instructor.

No condescension! I'll try harder. Seriously, though, this is a good point, Isaac. And some of our most successful, and interesting, alumni come from the early entrant program: Peter Cooley, 1962, poet Steve Heller, 1971, programmer and author Robert Keohane, 1961, international relations theorist Kenneth Knabb, 1965, writer and translator Laurie Spiegel, 1967, electronic composer Sydney Spiesel, 1961, pediatrician and clinical professor Elizabeth Vandiver, 1976, professor of classics Catherine Yronwode, 1965, writer and editor Which can be found at the Wikipedia page of Shimer's Early Entrant Program: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_entrance_at_Shimer_College

Good luck! You'll do awesome. And the topic looks great!

Sam, thank you so much for sharing this. This is really beautiful.

Shameless self-promotion: I like it! I'm so glad you're cross-posting. I find your blog very interesting and I think the readers of this blog will as well.

That sounds really hard, Renee. I can't imagine having to adjust in this manner. I've only ever lived in a city and I'm sure I would find something at a slower pace to be almost impossible to leave. I think you're doing a pretty good job though, at least in class.

Love all the spam comments. Also, you did amazing work, Stephanie! I went through some of the pictures and they are absolutely fascinating.

Leo, I am very excited for you to read both V for Vendetta and The Book of Mormon. Comic books and the Mormon faith are to of my favorite things. Alan Moore is a particularly interesting vein of graphic novelist. Let me know how you find it and I may have some more recommendations.

Coca-cola red? Josef Albers much? And this was, of course, hilarious.

Landis, this sounds amazing. I am very jealous of your pending experiences. I am enjoying weather comparable to that of Haiti's right now (being close to the Everglades). It's such a refreshing change from Chicago. I know you've probably thought of this, but in case you haven't: The thing I find best for being out all day in the sun and humidity and staying hydrated is a camel pack. I wear it under my other backpack and it holds an amazing amount of water. One of the best investments I've ever made for hiking. I can't wait to hear more about your internship and your Haitian education. -Alex

You are the best. I'm so excited to hear all about this internship. It sounds amazing.

I thought I would escape that cold this semester, alas I was afflicted as well. Good job guys, this was really adorable, and both of your faces between signs were priceless.

Adrian, I'm really excited to see more about Oxford student life. I miss all of you that went over there already. Dorian, that was absolutely fantastic and very reminiscent of my own bewildered mindset after my first day at Shimer. Also, (everyone's, but especially) my roommate's acting was superb.

Taylor, I cannot adequately express how inspired I have been by how you spent your summer and the blogs you've written about it. I can't wait to talk to you about this further.

Arman, thank you for commenting! Meg, Katamari is NEVER cheesy! That is one of the best games EVER! It crossed over from PS2 to 360 though with "Beautiful Katamari", an equally superb game. Cassie, DA NANANANA NA NANA

My favorite series is definitely the Original Series. I do like Captain Janeway, but I grew up watching the original series as reruns on the SyFy channel (back when it was the SciFi channel) so it has my first love. I actually got that Captain's shirt through Kellogg! I love it.