This morning, I sat on the steps by myself and enjoyed my last gelato. I know, but cannot believe, that this is my last day here in Perugia. I began to think about just how much I have grown as a person over the past 6 weeks and it is truly incredible. Then, after reading my entire blog stream, the mental growth was also obvious. Before coming on this trip, my knowledge of the Renaissance was extremely limited. I had a small background from high school history classes and then we touched on this period in Western Civilization I and Music Survey. To be completely honest, I am not sure if I could have even made a reasonable guess at the dates (ca.1350-1600 CE, for those of you who are wondering).
I am not saying that I am not an expert in the Italian Renaissance; however, I feel like I now have a pretty good grasp on the most important highlights. For philosophy, I continually practiced applying the four central concepts (humanism, individualism, secularism, and historical self-consciousness) to different works in my blogs. Just over the semester, I have a much better understanding of them also. I no longer confuse humanism and the humanities. I now understand that secularism is not a sinful concept, but instead a focus on this world. I believe strongly that Christians can have a secularist outlook, in fact they should. Christ does not want people to follow Him just so they can reserve a place in Heaven, instead He wants people to follow him because they love Him.
I had absolutely no knowledge of art before this class, thus I didn't really feel comfortable writing about it early on in the semester. However, after working with the professors and viewing a plethora of all kinds of art, I now feel comfortable analyzing it. As for music, I had a fairly extensive background before the trip because I played saxophone for four years and I also completed music survey in college. However, I never spent that much time with Renaissance music, so I definitely grew in that aspect. In my blog stream, as I became more comfortable as view as music as art, I was able to look at music in a new way. At the beginning of the semester I would just analyze the physical components of the music itself.
This course has far exceeded my expectations. In my first blog, I mainly just stated that I wanted to grow. I have definitely achieved that, as I have already been discussing. I wanted to learn in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom. I think those out of the classroom experiences have definitely been the most memorable and probably the most beneficial to me. Again, in my first blog, I expressed my excitement for getting to see in person what I usually just view in textbooks. That was amazing because I would find myself standing in front of works of art and monuments that I have seen depicted my entire life, such as The David or The Birth of Venus.
One of the most awe striking out of classroom experiences was seeing the Colosseum. Again, this is something that I have learned about my entire life and I never thought I would see in person. However, our last day in Rome we took a long and hot ride on the metro across town. I was already annoyed because I was starving, I have to have my breakfast. And then, being Rome, there were tons of people crowding around me the entire ride there. But as soon as we exited the metro building, there it was, in all its glory. Just bam. Walk out of the dark underground and you get hit by the sunlight and a larger-than-life structure that is centuries old. It was incredible.
I also see a change in my self-understanding throughout the semester. Most of the changes are small or vague, but I think the best example would have to be the blog I wrote about Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Since I have not really dealt with philosophy that much in my life, I had a lot to learn about. It also changed my understanding of the world and myself, it definitely opened my mind up. Reading and understanding the piece proved to me that I am capable of understanding philosophy. The actual content help to show me where I have come out of some caves, coming on this trip for example. It also showed me where I need to grow and try to help other people learn as well.
I would like to take this last little bit of my blog to thank some special people. Thank you to Dr. Bonner and Gardner-Webb for making this trip possible. It has provided me with some very priceless growth and knowledge. Your generosity is unreal. Thank you to my professors, Dr. Lininger and Mrs. Adkins. You guys are amazing and have facilitated my academic growth in ways that I didn't know were possible. I also see how much you care about us personally and that means more than you know. Thank you to my parents, who have supported me 100%. You guys are wonderful and I love you. Also, thank you if you are reading this, your support means so much to me.
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