Hi, My Name is [THOMAS]

Hi there. I'm Thomas. It's nice to meet you.

A little bit about myself: I am from Iowa. I like to write and act and play music and make movies. There are other things I like to do too, but I think those characteristics are enough for you to get a sort-of-kind-of idea of me.

I should probably mention that this is not my first year of doing the college thing; I'm actually a transfer student from a much larger institution in the city. During my time there I met some great people who I'm still friends with to this day, but it didn't take me long there to realize that it wasn't the place for me. Though a "traditional" college education in a large institution is an a-okay way to go for many, it just didn't bode well with me. It seemed to me that many students at said first institution were interested solely in getting out of there with a degree rather than actually learning stuff. Though one could say that how a person handles their college experience is their own business, whether you like it or not your show-up-without-doing-the-work-and-hope-for-a-C-at-least students quite often have an impact on everyone else's educational experience. As Heraclitus says, "Even sleepers and workers are collaborators in what goes on in the universe."

And here's the thing about Shimer that I've discovered in just a few days: you can't sleep your way through this place. By that I mean two things: one, that for any mere mortal it's impossible to put in a minimal amount of effort and still make it out of here alive. And two: it's too darn interesting here. The people and the discussions that have ensued are way too interesting for me to fall into any sort of sleepwalking state. I realize that sounds kind of hyperbolic, but it's completely true - not to mention that in the busyness that is the first couple of weeks here at Shimer, I've been a wee bit on the sleep deprived side. But hey, that'll change once I get a more concrete schedule in place.

So anyway I suppose I'll be posting here about my experiences regarding what goes in and around this place. But in the meantime it's nice to meet you.