School is NOT Out for the Summer

Posted May 24, 2012 by Katie Olivo

Spring 2012 flew by! Seriously, where has the time gone? I remember when I went off to college as a lowly undergraduate and my mother told me – “Soak it up. These four years will be over before you know it.” I scoffed in her general direction. I guess this is another one of the times when I realize Mom is usually right. Not only did my undergrad years vanish like Speedy Gonzalez, but my first year of graduate school is already gone. Wow.
Last week, my boyfriend graduated with his Master’s degree in Taxation (scary stuff!) and I couldn’t have been more proud to see him walk across that stage. Now he’s going to take his CPAs this summer and then he starts a full-time job in the fall. Somehow I feel like I’m falling behind since I’m still in school and only working part-time. And yet, I don’t want to rush. I have the rest of my life to become a slave of society’s standards and live day-in and day-out doing the same thing, so instead of pouting in my seemingly never-ending schooling, I’m living it up.
In fact, I’m already back in school. Yup, no glorious summer vacation for this kid. My summer history class (I’m a dual-degree Archives and History major) on race and media in modern U.S. History started this past Monday. I already have a book to read this weekend in addition to two articles. This doesn’t bother me though because I’m hoping for some glorious weather that will allow me to lay out in my backyard with a nice cool drink and get some color on my pasty skin while I delve into the sticky questions about race and how film, television, etc. dictates our impressions of each other. I’ll certainly keep you all updated about the class.
If you want a quick refresher about Reconstruction era racial relations, watch some clips of Birth of a Nation, a film from 1915.  It is basically the only example of cinema that portrayed society’s fear of the freedmen and what would happen with the dawn of inter-racial relationships. It’s pretty controversial stuff, but it also reminded me how little I remembered about Reconstruction (besides the fact that it failed miserably).
http://youtu.be/iEznh2JZvrI
Next time, I’ll tell you all about where to find lynching photos from the 19th and 20th centuries. I think it’s a pretty interesting collection, while simultaneously disturbing.