This was by far the best college classroom experience I’ve had thus far.

I was a little nervous about starting this semester. I had no idea what a course about mermaids in literature would entail. I had never been interested in the subject, and I had no idea how enthralled I would become by it. I believe that if the class had been given by another professor, I would have missed the underlying relevance of these stories. Professor Pressman did an excellent job of making the class an engaging one to be a part of, and this was the first class in which I actually wanted to participate. Getting to know the text with you all has been fantastic, and it’s a shame it’s coming to an end.

One thing I didn’t expect from a Literature and Environment course was to learn so much about myself and my views. I didn’t anticipate to delve as deeply into human history as we did, and my perspective on the world changed as a result of our global studies of human values. This class, like any other history course, taught me to look at topics like sexism, religion, and capitalism from different perspectives. A quote I frequently thought about during these readings came from Detective Rust Cole in season 1 of True Detective, who says, “Certain linguistic anthropologists believe that religion is a language virus that rewrites the pathways in the brain, dulls critical thinking.” I believe this remark, while pessimistic as hell, accurately captures the mental state that many of these readings have put me in. Religion has spread many of our outdated beliefs, and religious populations have had the same societal framework for millennia. I’m rambling a lot, but I just wanted to highlight how deeply this class struck a chord with me, and I’m thankful I got to share this experience with you.

Thank you everyone!