What are you studying?

[ukurtlele]

hello all! long time no see i certainly hope everyone is keeping well.

in the time between since i was last active, i've completed my first year of university, majoring in religious and archaeological studies. to get a conversation going, let's talk about what you're studying - in school, out of school, officially or not, what's been something you're trying to learn, or are interested in learning?

hope life is treating all well

[galled]

Welcome back and congratulations! Religious and archaeological studies sounds so Indiana Jones!

Glad you're doing well. I've been working on learning network storage using ultra low power parts (Raspberry Pi). Well it's fun to me!

Did you get to do any field studies?

[ukurtlele]

woah, that sounds very neat as well - i love hearing about things that have to do with networks, computers, programming and the like because all of that is so Greek to me. incredibly fascinating, though, even if i don't always get it.

unfortunately, year one of uni was all online due to COVID, so as of yet there have been no field studies. i have incredibly high hopes for this year, though, and I know for certain that fourth-years in the program have access to faculty-directed digs in places like Sardinia and North Macedonia. so i'm definitely excited for that!

[galled]

What's enjoyable about tech is the satisfaction when it all works as planned.

Wow!! Really exotic places! That's so exciting, places Indy would go!

When will you know if you'll online in the fall?

[ukurtlele]

as of right now, since Canada is starting to get more and more vaxxed, my uni is relatively certain we'll be in person this coming year, which i'm absolutely ecstatic for! which means i really ought to start looking for an apartment or student housing as soon as i can (which i am less than ecstatic for)!

later this month we'll be told all of the courses offered this year, which i'm definitely looking forward to. in addition to learning a new language, i'd like to study the basics of linguistics, evolution and geology on top of my other classes, which will all contribute towards the palaeoarchaeolgy that i want to study!

i've never actually traveled outside of my province before, so the promise of going to exotic places where i can not only learn about their history but help to further the understanding of it... that's just so exciting to me, and i really look forward to it. there's so many places to go, with so much human history!

sorry, i probably kind of gushed a bit there LOL

[Lemon Cheesecake]

Sounds interesting to me! worth "gushing' about!

You should talk to MissAutumn she has archaeological interests as well!

I've always wanted to do one of the holiday digs...spend your vacation on a dig! Maybe one day!!

I watch quite a few historical documentaries and I use to have a subscription to a few archaeological magazines ..I know you can read them online and zoom in which is great but something about seeing it on paper seems to give me that sense or feel of history.

You will have to share what you learn!

[galled]

I would think learning languages will be very helpful in your field of study. You'll need to be aware of all of the clues available on artifacts and such--and much of the time, people literally wrote on things so others knew what's what.

Palaeoarchaeolgy must refer to the palaeo age I assume? Did you see the Dragon Man they found?

Gushing is no problem! It's nice to see passion in people--especially in study!

[ShiroGEM]

Welcome back ukurtlele! I completed my first and second year of college online too... it is indeed rough. Here's to hoping you get to do your field studies though! My friends all miss their labs and onhands experience, so it'll be a shame if you never get to do any. I know nothing about religion or archeology but I definitely learnt some things through art history! Is there anything you find particularly interesting?

In college I'm basically learning illustration and graphic design stuff, but I've been learning live2d rigging in my free time~ Would be nice to spend some time learning a language though

[Bassy]

I already have my bachelors in parks and recreation but I ain’t done nothing with my major since I’m trying to recover my mental health from a very toxic job. I’m sure I have PTSD but I’m not diagnosed but it’s like a cloud in my head 24/7. Made me lose confidence in myself and I don’t wanna enter my dream job being the way I am right now.

I want to learn something new. I find geology interesting since I worked at a cave for my internship. Rocks are more interesting than you think. How they form, the layers, etc. I’m definitely gonna study a bit if it in my own.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

Geology is fascinating!
I'm sorry your past job scarred you. The good news is that there are many national parks across the country and they always seem to be looking for someone. Plus they usually have good benefits as well. Not sure about the recreation programs.

[ManInMauve]

In the past, I actually went through an Educational Support program where I mainly studied behaviour and psychology.
Then, through the next few years, I studied anything and everything that interested me at any point. From sex/sexuality/gender to history, different avenues of psychology, certain aspects of religions (food and customs, mainly), media trends and slang, cultural customs (Japanese, Chinese, Irish, Scottish, British, German, French, Indigenous, Maori), mythology (Greek, Egyptian, Irish/Scottish, German, Columbian, Japanese), North American urban legends (Mothman, Jersey Devil), life/survival skills, knots, and flowers/botany/dendrenology.
In my last two semesters worth of courses, I’ve taken Grammar Writing for Professionals, Writing for Publication 1, Romance Writing, Writing Short Stories, Human Sexuality, and Canadian Literature.

I’m also going through MasterClass in order to learn even more. My first class has been with Yo-Yo Ma, and honestly, I’m irrevocably glad that his was the first MasterClass that I’ve done.

[Bassy]

I’m interested in doing an online class myself, just not through a university/college. Just wanna learn lots of things that I don’t have to pay my life’s money to.

[Uchuuko]

I have been studying Japanese on a daily basis for almost a month. I have studied Japanese for years, but I have resumed studying it regularly since I am taking time off from graduate school (I am no longer interested in studying my major). I am also reading the Bible, and I have read things I didn't expect were in the text.

Things are up in the air regarding my path to my career. I might take an internship to help me get back on track (in fact, I could use it to get into another graduate school under a different program), but it is across the country from where I am.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

Bassy, there are some local colleges that offer free classes at community centers that you can also get credits for! Check out if your area has any. Plus there are tons of low cost online classes as well. Libraries sometimes offer elective type classes that are sponsored by the gov't or community.

Uchuuko , good for you! Changing your major after putting so much work into studies already must have been a difficult decision to make. But good to hear that there are internship & programs available to you. I found the amplified bible was a good one to use to get a better concept of the text as it tells you what the greek or hebrew word meant.

[Uchuuko]

Thank you Lemon. It was a tough decision indeed, and I am still deeply affected by it in a few ways. I was really trying to stick with the major as much as possible because I saw that it was useful for my career, but at least I am free of the toils that came with my major. Things were so bad my last semester that I never finished exams despite given ample time. Those incidents brought me to an epiphany that I wasn't acting myself, and I was never like that with other studies. I think I love the major, but not enough to want to put more work into it now.

Right now I am reading the NASB. I looked more into the differences between the two versions and I see how AMP is useful as far as knowing the possible interpretations of the original Bible. What is even better is that I found AMP study Bibles (if I get another Bible I was considering getting a study variant).

Are you by any chance subscribed to National Geographic? I never subscribed to them myself, but I know people who have and I was able to read hard copies of some issues. I also prefer hard copies of books over digital (I do think there is an advantage in digital copies in that they don't take up space and are typically cheaper).