This week was my first week of classes. It was nice to see some familiar faces again as well as meeting new people who share the same passions of History and Teachong as I do. I am in 18 hours this semester which consists of all Education and History courses, with one political science course called "Presidency". I absolutely love this presidency class; it is so interesting to see how politics have changed, more or less, over the founding of America to present-day.
I have also begun my senior thesis research on the murder of Emmett Till. Freshman history is where I read the story of this young soul, whose life was taken far too early, and to be considered a martyr in the modern-day Civil Rights Movement. Now I get to dedicate a whole year of research where I will read more in-depth and try to find holes in this story. I'm not sure what exactly I want my finished product to look like, but it would be nice to focus on how his life affected the movement. However, this is extremely draining (emotionally) research. Two of his cousins, one in the house, the other sleeping next to Emmett the night he was kidnapped, are still alive. Of course this clicks a light bulb on in my head!!! Why not try to contact either of them for an interview? So, as of right now I am trying to secure an interview with one of his cousins. I am so excited and honestly want this to be one of the major capstone's of my whole career as a Historian. Needless to say, after a few days of reading excerpts from books, magaizine articles, FBI files, you name it...I was kept up for a very wreckless night of sleeping last night. It's easy to forget that Emmett wasn't the only lynched African American, however when reading these articles, it is almost impossible to not try to imagine what a young southern boy from Chicago was thinking and feeling when he knew that his life was about to end, in the racial violence of Mississippi.
Moving away from my research and school....and on to plain old life. I really feel as if this next year cannot get here fast enough. I know that everything will work out, or at least hope so, the way that it's all planned. I know in the back of my mind that up to this point I'm right on course with what I had hoped for these last 2 years. Indulging myself into schoolwork is not something that I mind, but I also miss my dear friends in Lawrence and Oklahoma, along with my family. It's been about 6 months since I was last in Ok., and this makes me sooooo sad! I'm hopefully going to be able to make a trip down in a couple of weeks or so, because honestly, I really am not the biggest fan of living in Topeka. I feel so far away from everyone :(
I hope that everyone is enjoying the weather especially as it cools from those 100 degree temps to Fall weather! Fall is my favorite season, so I know that I am!
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