Golden Edges: Virginia Woolf and experiencing the Libertarian society

It's been an eventful Thursday here.

My group of four other students presented in our Virginia Woolf class today and thankfully, we were quite over prepared. The presentation went well, and I was comfortable presenting a few quotes and analysis.
The class in itself though, is challenging, and creative writing is reigning overwhelmingly as my favorite module (course). The course on Woolf is beneficial, educational, and currently (I think) doable, but I just don't seem to have an enormous natural interest in her work. I've enjoyed one of her books that I had read previously, but in reading Selected Essays of heres this past week, I struggled to comprehend much of it. The module itself is all English majors. Because it is a fourth-year honours (yikes!) module the other students are very, very into literature, and have a background of at least two to three years of reading solely classic British and American literature for each class.

While I enjoy literature and the classics, and have read a few here and there (and hope to read more!), my two years of concentrated journalism just doesn't compare. On a side note though, Saint Michael's journalism has prepared me for St. Andrews academics in many ways. The note-taking, attention to detail, analysis, work ethic, forthrightness in speaking to others/interviewing and intensive multimedia projects have prepared me for the amount of reading or assignments or writing here. Which, compared to the immense amount of work involved in Saint Michael's journalism, St. Andrews has yet to compare in quantity. There are very few other "overseas students," as my Virginia Woolf professor referred to presumably myself earlier in the class, which makes some of the comprehension difficult as I come from a starkly different background. There are about twenty of us in the module, and I know of at least one other study abroad student. I have Woolf's Jacob's Room to read this coming week, and look forward to. It likely will be the focus of my first essay for the class, due in about a month's time. We received several choices of prompts today and much of them relate to Woolf's development of characters in Jacob's room.

Both my academic Uncles Henry and Marc recently have been urging me to attend/join the libertarian society, of which Marc is the president and Henry is involved in. I belive my first reaction a couple weeks ago was something along the lines of..."Uhmmm...okay, but I don't identify completely as a libertarian...." Uncle Henry assured me I could fit right in despite my past political contributions (not financially, of course).

And tonight, it all came together! There are dozens of golf hotels all across St. Andrews (well, actually, they're all concentrated sort of together...) but the Libertarian Society meeting was held at The Golf Hotel.

Oh, and please understand I went in with an open mind. I've found in recent months I've been shifting slightly more moderate, and while I don't plan to invest in a Romney-Ryan bumper sticker tomorrow, I've certainly been re-evaluating my politics and beliefs in the last year. Something my brother told me earlier this year (or was it late last year?) was 'Extremism is extremism,' I've often thought back to that and very much like the thought behind it. As I've written previously on the aging Republican Party as well (to survive: need to energize youth, stress financial priorities, student loans, not social issues), I went in bearing some of these principles in mind, and putting away my liberal ones for at least an evening.

Upon climbing the concrete steps and pulling open the heavy wooden door of the Hotel, I soon found the Ballroom and was greeted by my Uncles, one of which referred to me as "Ms. Kendall." Four or five other male students were present and a few female students followed in behind me. We moved to a smaller, cozier, room with mahogany walls and dark upholstery. It felt very speakeasy-ish. The men all wore at least a dress shirt with a few wearing suit jackets, a couple wearing sweaters (not like Rick Santorum though....) and even a bowtie sprinkled in. As I had come from a day of library work and class, I wore jeans and a cotton top. Perhaps I should have changed...the men all ordered gin and whisky, and I chose my safe choice of white wine.

I found immediately it was an experience. Like the wonderful ceilidh a couple weeks ago, it was entirely new, and took minor adjustments, but in the end, very worthwhile. The meeting began with the nomination of the executive committee, and as the full group was only about ten people, three students ran for positions with speeches about their own interests in libertarianism and all were awarded the positions by our votes. I knew my beliefs didn't quite match perfectly, but throughout the commitee'selection and hearing the testimony of other students (one degree-seeking student from Chicago attempted to lead a libertarian club at her high school and had a rock thrown at her...it sounded like a terribly unfortunate experience, but became a great testimony and starting ground and certainly gained the sympathy and interest of the room...) I found my beliefs could be shared, and I could respectfully understand the beliefs of others. 'Ron Paul 2012' was a phrase uttered a few times during the commitee's election process.

Soon, the evening turned to debate. To my surprise, a mix of American and British politics were discussed, but mainly American politics and the upcoming election. I was able to keep up with the discussion, and was eager to participate. I found my knowledge of the best political speeches of the past couple of years, Mitt Romney, and certainly the effect and role of the media and the use of objectivity was all received well and fit into the discussion. The evening continued for a couple of hours, and closed shortly before 10 p.m. I walked back to my residence passing the beach and the golf hotels and bars, and reflected on what an interesting evening and day it had been. While I had struggled to find myself in the Virginia Woolf class, the Libertarian Society fit me...just slightly. I can'y say I'm a libertarian, but I loved experiencing it, and look forward to the social next week. :)

Also, tomorrow afternoon I'll be heading to Edinburgh for the weekend. My study abroad program requires a home stay experience, and I've been paired up with a retired woman who lives in the suburbs of Edinburgh. I'm very much looking forward to this, and hope to learn more about Scotland, my host mum, (whoa! I just realized I not only have an actual Mum, but also an academic Mum, and a host Mum. Wow...that's a lot of Mums...) and hopefully Edinburgh. The motto is 'Expect the unexpected!' I hope to do just that. I'll be leaving my laptop behind in St. Andrews for the weekend, but will likely have plenty of updates come Sunday evening. :)