Veritoss!

Ever since I graduated from high school, and thus no longer on any formal athletic team, my physical fitness has taken I drastic drop on the priorities list. SLU renovated the Simon Rec. Center during my freshman year, resulting in a wonderful, state of the art workout facility. Other than the spring of my sophomore year and the first three weeks of junior year, I was only in the rec. center while giving campus tours (but let's not forget the two times I had to practice for the Student - Faculty Hoops for Haiti benefit game!).

Our wonderful logo.

Harvard has its own workout facilities, but as I am now a graduate student, those cost additional fees, which they graciously don't automatically add to your term bill. In an attempt to force myself to have regular physical activity, I decided to join the HDS ultimate frisbee team! It's been a lot fun. It was pretty tiresome the first week, but as of last weekend, I can definitely notice improvements.

The name of the team is Veritoss, which for those who don't notice the pun, is a play on Harvard's motto Veritas (Latin for truth). We are not a part of any formal league.  Basically, we get together and play on Saturdays.  But, we also play other schools.  This Saturday we have the 2nd Annual "Church v. State" game against the Kennedy School of Government.  Hopefully we'll win! We have also been in discussion in challenging Yale Divinity School's team.

Frisbee has been a great way for me to stay fit, active, and meet new people. The following is the challenge we posted on Yale Divinity's door (as they require for any challenges, the pompous fools...):

"Yale Divinity School Ultimate Frisbee Team,

Let it be known The Flying Disc team of Yale Divinity School is hereby challenged to an epic duel of passion, pluck, perseverance and piety by the humble - but unbelievably talented (and attractive) - Harvard Divinity School Flying Disc players, also known as Team VeriTOSS.

We propose that a match be held at a location and time agreeable to both teams. We would remind Yale Divinity, however, that we can and will pummel them at any instance and at any locale within the year of our (or someone else's) Lord, 2010.

We ask only that all who wish to gaze upon such a site do so with the utmost respect for game, country and their own personal concept of that which may or may not be divine.

You may contact us at the following address: teamveritoss@gmail.com

Consider the gauntlet thrown.

With Love,
The Harvard Divinity School Ultimate Frisbee Team, aka Team VeriTOSS

PS Team VeriTOSS knows Yale only exists because Harvard came first.

PPS Bulldogs are silly, and lousy frisbee players."

Some Sightseeing and Libraries!

I had a marvelous day yesterday.  I was really busy because I had a lot of work to finish before class.  That doesn't sound like a marvelous day, but let me explain.  I was in search of an article for my paleography class that was on reserve in the library.  The divinity library didn't have it, so I had to walk across campus to another library that did have it.  On my walk over I decided to enter a huge building that I walk by all the time. And that's how I found Memorial Church.  It's a beautiful church that is known for its special World War II memorial. Etched onto the wall of the church is every Harvard student that lost their life fighting in WWII. It covered the entire wall, so think how many students that was.

Memorial Church

There were two student casualties from the Divinity school.  And one of those names is probably one of the most looked at.  Next to one of the names, there follows the unique distinction of "(enemy combatant)." Of course the lone German soldier had to come from the Divinity school... The reason of his inclusion was that the memorial was to honor all Harvard students who perished. Apparently this student was drafted into the German army and killed somewhere on the Russian front, either as a soldier or medic.  It's not precisely known.

I left the church and walked across to Widener Library, which is the main library on campus.  I had walked past this many a times and was looking forward to exploring it.  I walked up the large stone staircase, swiped my ID, only to walk up another stone staircase.  I had no idea where I was really going.  I stumbled into a really nice room that was roped off right past the doorway.  I didn't know what was so special about it.  It just looked like a really nice, wood paneled room with a fireplace and lots of books. I was about to leave when I realized the book in the glass case, which was the focal point of the room.  The "Room is Alarmed" sign made much more sense.  There was a Gutenberg Bible in the case! Quick history lesson: Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press and his Bibles were the first printed books. There are only like 20 complete ones still remaining and Harvard owns two. I was lucky enough to be at SLU's ceremony last year, when they were presented with a single page from a Gutenberg Bible.

A Gutenberg, but not Harvard's... at least I don't think.

Perhaps it's kind of nerdy, but this was a highlight of my day. The Gutenberg Bibles were printed in the 1450s. I'm taking paleography this semester, which is the study of manuscripts.  Manuscripts, being handwritten, are even older than the Gutenberg Bible and that's what I'll be studying! As you can see, I'm very excited. Don't worry, you'll be able to hear all about my paleographic adventures throughout the semester!

Latina est Gaudium!

Salvete! I have great news! So, in order to receive my degree, I am required to be proficient in another language relating to my studies. To show that you are proficient, you have to pass one of HDS' language proficiency exams.  They have these at the beginning and end of each year. If you fail, it means nothing.  It doesn't go on your transcript or anything.  So, having earned a certificate in Latin at Saint Louis University (SLU), I decided, why not? It would be foolish of me not to.

The exam was an hour long and I could use the aid of one dictionary.  I had to translate an excerpt from some medieval sermon about a Bible passage, which happened to be when some crowd was pressing heavily upon Jesus, etc. I found the beginning really difficult.  However, once passed that that, I did much better.  But, I ran out of time, not being able to complete the last 2-3 sentences.  I was pretty sure I failed, or at most barely passed.

Well guess what?! (as I'm sure you already have...).  I passed!!! The four possibilities are: Not Passing, Low Pass, Pass, or High Pass.  I got a Pass, so I did even better than I thought I would! As you can tell, I was pretty excited.  I'm taking a paleography and medieval manuscripts seminar this fall (the former is the study of the latter). I was a little intimidated, not sure if I would be up to par with my Latin.  This makes me feel much better.

With regards to languages, Harvard has a great summer language program.  This summer, I think I'm going to study German.  In addition to Latin, I took German during my last two semesters at SLU.  Ideally, I would like to pass the German proficiency exam as well.  If I had proficiency level for German and Latin on my PhD applications, that would make my application very competitive.

I don't have class on Fridays, so today's news is a great start to the weekend. And happy early birthday to McCoy!!!

Weather & School

I can tell the weather is slowly starting to change into fall.  It's still hot enough to sweat outside during the day, but it's cooling off much more in the evenings now.  I'm excited to see the leaves change, as I feel like that is the stereotype of New England.  However, I don't think I'm really prepared for the winter.  I still need to purchase a good winter coat and some snow boots.  Everyone has been telling me I must get snow boots.  So, my eye is on the lookout for a good coat and a pair of boots.

BUT, it turns out that winter gear is ridiculously expensive.  I don't think I've seen a coat under $200.  And everyone tells me it's better to get a good one that will last.  I want to get one of the coats that are a shell that will be easy to layer with. I visited an East Mountain Sports the other day, but it's still to early for them to have coats in stock.

Moving on from the weather, school has been going well.  The divinity school has 4 main buildings. The first is Andover Hall, which is the building in the photo.  The divinity school library is also connected to Andover hall. I applied for a work study job at the library.  I interviewed for a job at the circulation desk, but people from last year were able to fill up the time slots, so they didn't hire anyone new.  Then, yesterday, I interviewed to work in the periodicals department.  They only have one opening and I think a number of people applied for the position.  So who knows if I'll get it.  It would be nice though to have a small 10 hours/week job that pays well.  And I'd become familiar with the library, which would be good for research.

The other buildings are Rockefeller Hall, Divinity Hall, and the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR).  One would think Divinity Hall would be our main building...  Rockefeller Hall is mostly classrooms, but it also has a cafe.  Divinity Hall has a few classrooms, but is mostly administrative offices like financial aid and the registrar.  Lastly, the CSWR is more of a residence and a meeting place. They have various events, but also apartments for students or visiting scholars.  So far, any event they have has plenty of food and drink, so I always make sure to go to those.

Lastly, I played ultimate frisbee the other day with the HDS ultimate frisbee team.  It was a lot of fun, but I was exhausted! I mainly went to force myself to have some physical activity, and that is exactly what I got. Perhaps I'll join.  Who knows...

New Beginnings

People talk differently here. I suppose I sound different to them, but as I'm the hearer, I can be the judge. For those of you who don't know, I'm starting a masters program at Harvard Divinity School.  Thus, I've moved up to Cambridge, MA having all kinds of experiences. I had thought about having a blog.  I enjoyed having one when I was abroad, but they are difficult to keep up with and I figured I wouldn't be able to think of enough things to write about.  However, after some prodding, I decided why not? I'm far away from family and friends and all things familiar, so this would be a good way to offer a window into this new chapter of my life.

So what exactly am I doing? I'm pursuing a Master of Theological Studies (MTS). It is a two year program, after of which I will (fingers crossed) apply and be accepted into a Ph.D. program.  As I'm sure many of you are thinking--and many people ask me--does this mean I'm going to be a preacher? Not exactly. Yes, I am at a divinity school, but an MTS is a degree more associated with academia, whereas a Master of Divinity (MDiv) is a more pastoral degree.

I had orientation last week and am currently in a shopping period for classes.  Basically, instead of registering for classes beforehand, we can go to the first day of how many classes we want and decide which ones we would like to take.  This way, we have the opportunity to view syllabi, etc.  I mostly have my schedule figured out, but I'll let you know about that in a later post.

I'm not entirely sure what I want this blog to be.  I imagine I'll use it to share stories, adventures, and opinions, along with the occasional rant. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know.