I was going through the studio closet, looking for, of all things, wood stain. The crate of paints and stains was at the bottom of a stack containing a crate full of old notebooks. I scanned a few pages from them, some because they have doodles, and some because I’m a little astonished at how obsessive I was about note taking. Also, the trip down memory lane was kind of entertaining.
First of all, the image above might help to explain how I lost my mind. Twelve credit hours was considered full time. I started out college taking half that, but when I switched to full time, I went a little overboard. Fall 1994, I had 16 credit hours, but the year before, both semesters I took 21 credit hours. Ouch! That was on top of working half-time.
The reason I took so many classes was so that I could cram in as many elective subjects as possible. One thing I was absolutely determined about was that my college education was going to be for me. I wasn’t interested in studying a subject based on whether or not it was going to make me money down the road. That strikes me as a sad waste of time, money, and effort.

Early Latin American History, Fall 1995
I like history, but I didn’t take many history classes. I think I ended up getting a pretty good overall history education by taking art history. However, my last year in college, I got pretty deeply involved in researching a group of Precolumbian artworks at the art museum. To coincide with that, I took an independent study in Precolumbian art with one of the history profs, and then a course he taught on early Latin American history. Dr. Alves was one of the best teachers I have ever had.

Greek Drama notes, Spring 1994
I never officially declared a second major in classics, but I had more than enough courses to fulfill the requirements. And then some. I liked the subject matter and most of the profs in the department. The subject matter dovetailed nicely with my art history classes, so for me, it was a no brainer. Just don’t ask me how many times I’ve read the Iliad or the Homeric Hymns. I think I could still recite passages from them by heart.

Early Medieval Art History, Fall 1993

Early Modern Art History, Fall 1993
The Early Medieval notebook has some sort of complicated highlighting scheme that I vaguely recall corresponds to passages I highlighted in the texts. That course was taught by Dr. StuffyPants. Y’all remember Dr. StuffyPants, don’t you? Well, there is a reason why I did not take Late Medieval, and it wasn’t because I didn’t love the subject matter.








