La Pontificia Universidad Catolica....aka la Catolica

Classes began at la Católica on Monday, the 4th. My first impression of the university was at the orientation at Casa Central, the central campus. With all it's high

 halls and stone archways, it felt

 nothing like any university I'd been to, but  more like a government capital building. Andrea Musalem (a psychology professor at La Católica, a Lady of Schoenstatt, my mentor and a life-saver) gave us a tour of the campus. While we w

inced along behind (remember the Cerro?!), she showed us the chapel upstairs, the impressive stairways, the different faculties, and introduced us to a few colleagues. It is a very small campus with only a few 

colleges. The majority of the faculties, including my classes, are actually located at San Joaquin campus,south east of Casa Central.

Monday was my first trip to San Joaquin. The day started pretty soggy and dreary, but in these few weeks I've learned something essential about Santiago weather. Super gross rainy days always  mean super gorgeous sunny days to follow! (I've also learned not to be fooled,both kinds of days can be freezing). By that first afternoon, the sun was out and I could really start to take in the c

ampus. There are more sunny open green lawns, art statues, lunch spots, balconies and benches than even any park. I think I'm gonna

like it here.

We were given alot of freedom from la Católica to attend classes for a few weeks before enrolling our for them officially, so my sche

dule bounced around a bit through the week. I actually went to one class I found to be to easy, which was kind of a nice surprise. After my first week, my schedule is pretty set. I'll be taking four courses (they call them "ramos" here, not "cursos"): Thinkers of the 20th Century, Fundamental Theology, Chilean & Latin American Poetry, and 19th Century History of Chile and America. Sounds like a plateful, huh? I am most looking forward to the Pensadores class (Thinkers)and the Theology class.

 

The Pensadores class looked like it was going to be good from the m

oment we walked in - every seat was filled and every aisle was full of people sitting on the floor. Professor Rojas was dynami

c and hilarious, the kind of professor that takes his role as educator seriously without taking himself too seriously. We'll be

 focusing each section on a different great thinker, from CS Lewis to GK Chesterton to lots of names I don't know yet. Our first 

"pensador" was Frank O'Malley, the Notre Dame alum and professor! How odd to come all the way to Santiago, Chile, and see photos of good old Notre Dame! Prof Rojas received an honorary degree from ND, and while there discovered O'Malley. Our course is actually inspired from one O'Malley used to teach.

Prof Rojas read aloud one of O'Malley's essays in class. It sparked my interest imm

ediately, and then proceeded to address truths I've

 witnessed often, and speak to desires and values I hold close. O'Malley's offers his perception on the master-pupil or teacher-student relationship, understanding how it is rooted in both persons knowing of the self and respect for the other, and yet ultimately rooted in relationship to God. Permit me to roughly translate a few phrases:

(From "My perception of University Life") "The fundamental questi

on should be, not our material or our method, but our

 attitude, our

 disposition, our inclination, our spirit of aproach towards the establishment of an authentic community of professors and students...We must be conscious that everything depends, for

 ourselves and for our students, on the activation of a deep respect for the truth, the law, personal dignity and each 

one's "creative center." First: we must renew..the contemplative attitude...The human soul need to be rediscovered. All the world should have periods in their life and moments in their day, that are a constitutive and permanent part of them, en which they become quiet, concentrate, and with a lively heart, ask themselves some of

 

the innumerable questions that are suppressed during a busy day...Only an attitude deepened like this can allow a person to have a firm stance against the powers of the times and the world around them...Second: We should open ourselves anew to our own selves, to the fundamental nature of things and of people...Third: We should

 learn the significance of...the will...If we make the students inept beneath the army of 

our authority, what we will receive

 from our students will not be obedience, but the the abject submission of their 

persons. On the contrary, mediated by the manifestation of an intellectual and personal ascesticism, we can inspire them towards the develop of their own self-possession...Fourth: We should

 realize the importance of the community, the true relationship that should exist between ourselves and our students...Fifth: Here I feel inclined to emphasize the necesity that we need to conserve and develop the virtures of reverence and patience. The attitude of reverence...will help us to avoid the dangers of instrumentalization and depersonalization (of

 our students)...But if we treat them as a subject, as a presence - which means to recognize that I am incapable of defining them or classifying them, because this is impossible, because they are full of hopes that only they can actualize - then I have given them recognition. Sixth: Here we have arrived at the thought that, given our preoccupation

 for teaching and for intellectual work, we must mediate intensively on the final relationship of our existence, our relationship to God. The human being is not sufficient for himself, he can't arrive at and accept or deny God in the same way he can 

think or make decisions. The nature of the human person is essentially determined by his relationship with God. And in the manner that you understand this relationship, how seriously you take it and its consequences, 

all this determines the nature of your

 life, your work, your vocation...I am convinced that a personal effective education is not, as I said, so much a question of method or material...but the material, in undergraduate teaching, should always be subordinate to the development of the students themselves, ordered towards their need to be themselves and to dominate their experiences, instead of being subjugated and over

 passed by them."

Wow, sorry guys, that was super long. But I just couldn't stop

translating. Even through the broken translation, I hope that gives you enough of a picture of the nature of the article, and a glimpse into why I'm thrilled to be in the course. Just by giving us this article and challenging us to open our minds and make this course our own this semester, 

Prof Rojas has me hooked. These are the types of teachers I look for, and indeed the only kind that have impressed me in my past so much as to mold my thoughts and stay with me, long past the final exam (and who knows, hopefully long past graduation). 

I also was surprised, challenged, and moved by my fundamentals of

 theology class...but this entry is quite long enough, so that sh

all wait till later. 

The only last note I have to say, is that I can't believe this is all in Spanish. :)

Carpe Diem.