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Reading this blog is bringing back in me the defensiveness I felt on Thursday when we discussed the difference between our classes. As a competitive person to begin with, I refuse to accept the notion that it is at all possible the other section is in ANY way better than us (despite some implications)... just different.

Though I would love to argue that our section is more evolved than the other section, I guess this would be an unfair argument so instead, I'd like to contemplate why there are differences between our sections. I think this issue comes down to a much debated topic...nature versus nurture? How much of the way our section behaves is a matter of which individuals are in our section versus how much is as a result of us together & with Paulie G (haha, just kidding... Professor Grobstein...)?

In my opinion, we are the super cool way we are because of the way we interact as a group and with Paul- not exactly as a result of our individual natures. For example, take Elisa and Aijingwen. Both international students from China, they started the year speaking rather quietly and, in keeping with our (or at least my…) stereotypes of Chinese people, they were polite and more-or-less perfect. However, just a few months later, our international students are getting just as fired up and passionate about the topics- as evidenced in the rapidity at which they speak. Also, as the year has gone by, I feel we have all been able to open up more about our lives- making our class feel like a mixture of a (debate) team and a group counseling session.

Point being, I love our class. I don’t think we interrupt each other as much as we finish each other’s sentences or thoughts. I think the “loudness” Anne’s section observed is due to the fact that we have a good time together and the fact that we had the comfort of being in our own environment…”home”, even.