The Unheard Sermon of a Lesser Scholar

Being Super Sick of Spring Break

2011-06-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

Being sick over spring break can really suck. What can be worse is when that illness is mildly serious and requires hospitalization, like a severe case of pneumonia. Now, combine all this with the being Abu Dhabi and having no clue how the medical system works, and you have a really terrible week on your hands.

Now, I wouldn’t normally write on something as personal as spending six days in Abu Dhabi’s New Medical Center, but it provides insight into the Abu Dhabi experience. And I also enjoy throwing myself a public pity party. By far the most important thing that I learned from being sick here is that the staff at NYU Abu Dhabi goes above and beyond any reasonable expectation. I had been sick for several days; and after waking up at 2 in the morning coughing up more than just a little blood, I called our in house Health and Wellness Center for advisement. Beyond just an extremely late consultation, the nurse actually came to the hospital with me – which is literally right next to Sama Tower and inasmuch wasn't necessary, but still very, very appreciated – and hung out with me till I was fully admitted.

Once in the hospital, NYU staff was in constant communication with me. I had continuous visits from both the University doctor and on call nurse who spoke with me, my doctor and my parents back in the States so that all parties were constantly updated. Deans and other staff members stopped by just so that I could see familiar faces, which was nice as 95 percent of my fellow students had gone on University sponsored trips over the break. To top it all off, the university provided insurance covered everything.

Everything wasn’t perfect though. In fact, there were some really awful aspects about getting sick so far from home. Primarily, though the health care is very Western, there are some distinct differences between New Medical Center and hospitals back in the US. For instance, when I had a headache that felt something akin to having an ax in my skull, I got nothing more than Tylenol to “take the edge off”. This might be petty, but – at least from my experience – Westernized medicine overmedicates so that you feel as good as possible as you are getting better. I have had friends who have gotten Vicodin for a toothache and I couldn’t get a damned Percocet for a seriously debilitating headache.

Then there is the obvious annoyance of distance from home. I would assume that most college freshman who are hospitalized see their parents very shortly thereafter. When there is 19 hours of travel and at least a $1,300 flight to visit an ill family member, things become more difficult to address. Is just two days in the hospital worthwhile to visit? What about recovery time? It was all a giant mess. By the time my mother made it out to see me, I had already been discharged.

Now, I am a bit of a pansy when it comes to illness, so keep that in mind. Other students’ accounts of dealings with the Health and Wellness center are generally very positive. Overall though, the system that NYU has put in place for sick students here in Abu Dhabi is superb, though the hospital system has its quirks and minor issues.

Let's Be Bi-Winning Through Emotional Apathy!

2011-04-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

It seems sad that my first post in such a long time would have to be about something I have mentioned before. Regardless, the matter has reared its ugly head and I intend to take it face on, as it deserves to be taken.

Let’s start with a question:

Why on God’s green earth are people so easy to offend?

Those of you who have followed this blog know that I have issues with offending people. The words that come out of my mouth put people all in huff. It’s unfortunate and it frustrates me. I have often been told that the problem is me, that I phrase things poorly and often speak down to those who disagree with me. These are both perfectly objective observations about me, and I accept them fully. Frankly though, I do very little to change. This is because it is very inefficient to take so much time to phrase things delicately (and it will ALWAYS use more words, and we all know that more words = CO2. Let’s be green here people, come on!) and I prefer not to waste my time. Being patronizing is something that I do need to work on, but that is really a consequence of my absolute absolutism and feeling superior in my opinions.

Back to my question though. I just don’t understand how people are so easily offended. I am not easily offended. It is simply very difficult to hurt me emotionally, especially in the setting of a debate/argument/discussion involving morals/religion/anything that is generally a cause of offense. Even when I am (rarely) offended it is generally due to an actually personal attack, and I can repress those feelings (let’s be clear that offense is an emotion) and move on with the discussion. What I simply can’t understand, what I cannot wrap my head around is why people cannot remove themselves emotionally from a discussion, and if they decide not to why they can’t simply repress their feelings of offense for the sake of the discussion. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

There are many issues with being offended, the first of which is utility. What greater purpose does offense serve? It serves no purpose but to deride a discussion and make others feel uncomfortable for the sake of one person’s emotional needs. There is a time and a place for emotional discourse, but rational discourse is not that place neither is any group of people. In addition, offense generally doesn’t efficiently convey feelings. It muddles them with so much unpleasantness that many people just turn off and ignore what is being expressed.

Back to the matter of conversational efficiency though: there is definitely something to be said to getting these said and out of the way to make discussions move along. From every experience that I have ever had with people being offended (myself rarely included) it does not increase that efficiency. It either severely cripples or altogether stops rational discourse. And frankly, it will lead to your discussion mates feeling guilty, which is simply not polite.

What I think really ought to happen is that people should remove themselves (at least emotionally) from rational discourse. It would really serve us all, in the end. If we all decide that we either will not feel offended so often, and if we do that we will not express it, we shall save ourselves not only all that is wasted on being offended but also on the work that is put into not offending people. See, everyone wins!

Just Touching Base

2011-01-26T22:55:00.001-08:00

I should probably stop writing tomes for blog posts. They take me a long time to write and then you have to read them. This leads to fewer total posts as I have very little free time. In the end, everyone suffers. I’m not going to commit to writing anything shorter though, mostly because I’m very non-committal. And there’s a part of me that likes to think that you enjoy reading my long winded rants. I have to limit myself when writing for NYULocal (new post here: http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2011/01/26/j-sex-tells-nyuad-students-to-stop-studying/ !!!!), so this will be good practice.

Speaking of NYULocal, I recently made a bit of a gaffe on an article. It wasn’t very big, and frankly it would have been inconsequential if it didn’t involve implying that science students study more than 60 hours a week. Of course, a correction has been posted. But the mess has led me to consider the annoyances of being held to journalistic ethics. More than this it has led me to think of what being a journalist would be like. I’m not really considering it too seriously, but it is an interesting though nonetheless. Perhaps after getting my J.D. I’ll become an editorialist. I suppose that I do enjoy editorializing….

Anyway, I will get a post up on my time in NYC sometime in the near future. I really enjoyed my time there and therefore I assume that you will enjoy hearing about my visit. That’s how this works, right?

Food Porn

2010-12-19T00:48:00.000-08:00

I realize that there are many different philosophies on food out there. I’m in the camp that it’s damned delicious and that God didn’t make it that way for us not to enjoy it. I love everything about food and beverage: cooking, eating, food chemistry, discussion of food….literally, everything.

This brings us to a very important issue here at NYUAD: the cafeteria and dire lack of floor kitchens. I realize that no college student is able to call their victuals “gourmet”, but that is no excuse for downright terrible food. Now, the cafeteria staff here deserves some slack: they don’t have their own kitchen and everything is being catered at the moment (and by “at the moment”, I mean all semester long). This obviously wasn’t the plan, but the cafeteria kitchen still hasn’t been finished and there is really no other choice. Zelda (the main food lady) does the absolute best she can with what she is given, and her staff is just as amazing as she is.

I suppose you deserve a description of what we normally have to sustain ourselves (I use the term sustain very, very intentionally as there is absolutely no enjoyment to be had in Sama food).There is always bread and cheese set out, along with soup. This is accompanied by fruit and some raw vegetables and sometimes a salad. The fruit is always fresh, and the vegetables are, well, close to fresh (we are in a desert….). But things quickly go downhill from here. There is always rice (speaking of which, what is with places that aren’t American that they are obsessed with rice? Oh wait, if everyone is doing something maybe that makes America weird for not? Nope. Not in this case at least.). This is accompanied by a meat or two that is always overcooked and swimming in sauce (the most you can hope for is that it isn’t a butter sauce). There is generally a second starch and some vegetable that has been grossly overcooked. They occasionally throw in the disturbing burgers or hot dogs, but these are more of a disappointment than anything else. Keep in mind that this is the current situation after an entire semester of improvement.

The only good part was the free flowing espresso. But the coffee machine is broken right now. During finals. This isn’t helpful to a caffeine addict.

Huh. The real issue is the fact that the cafeteria kitchen is yet to be completed. How long does it take to complete a kitchen? I just don’t get it….If a contractor is 4 months late on a freaking kitchen, you get a new contractor. I understand that construction is always behind schedule (I’ve done a lot of work with contractors and construction in general, so this is firsthand knowledge) and that we are also working on Abu Dhabi time, but 4 months on a kitchen is ridiculously. Whoever is the University’s head of facility construction should be ashamed for keeping these guys on as long as they have. (Any arguments about permits and the like are null and unsubstantiated, NYUAD has pull and they would have made the permits happen quite quickly.)

One last thing to complain about: floor kitchens. Each residency floor was supposed to get its own kitchen so that students could cook. We were even told to bring our favorite recipes for the purposes of sharing culture. These floor kitchens do not exist. We can see where they were supposed to be: in the lounges on each floor. But it would seem that, just like in our dorms, the cooking apparatuses that make a kitchen just that have been removed. So we don’t really get to cook anything. Which is a shame as cooking is both therapeutic and tasty.

Now that I have rudely vomited all my food complaints (yes, that pun was intentional. I think that lack of bacon increases the likelihood of puns) in probably the worst written blogpost in all of humanity, I will show you how I have managed the last four months.

http://www.tastespotting.com/

There it is, my dirty little secret. Food porn. I put Chrome into Incognito mode, turn off the lights, lock the door, and venture into the sordid world of gourmet lust. I. HATE. MYSELF. I just can’t stop it. I blame this addiction on you, Sama food. You are responsible for my turning to this gastrointestinal smut (that came out way dirtier than it sounded in my head.). Can’t…resist…

If you excuse, I need to, ahem, spend some time alone. Yes, with my laptop, why do you ask?

Ohhh…pork tamales with red chilli sauce…I want you. *Saves recipe in bookmarks*

Prescott

2010-12-04T12:52:00.000-08:00

I have a home town, but it certainly is not the town of my birth. It is also not the city that I have lived the longest in, nor is it where I am today. Instead, my home town is the place where my strongest friendships and happiest memories reside. I can remember this place as it was and is and I can picture it as it will be. This very same place knows me just as much as I know it. I can go back and, without trying, find a person whom I have at least met once before and whom remembers me. Without much more effort, if any at all, I can find an old friend. If I wait long enough in my favorite coffee shop, I am bound to see many familiar faces.

There are business owners that, hopefully, still remember me. There are memories attached to most areas of town, more than this they are happy memories that I only grow fonder of day by day. This might seem overly sentimental, and perhaps you are right. Frankly though, I don’t care. I enjoy these thoughts and the keep me well. And till the day that you leave home for a place 9000 miles from all that you know at the age of 18, you better not judge me. But there is something I would like to address here that was introduced to me by a new friend here: a place that remembers you.

I believe that I have described a place that remembers me and I it. This is a special relationship that many don’t have. I believe that this relationship is far more prevalent in small towns such as mine. Having such a place is comforting and reassuring. I feel that I will always have a home in Prescott, even if everyone that I know well moves away. Of course, I know that not everyone will. Prescott is not a place people leave very often and when they do they often come back. Inasmuch I feel reassured that I can return for many years to come to welcoming arms.

I feel for those who do not have this relationship. Though certainly not central to my person, it makes a part of who I am. It means that at any point in my life I have more than just a home in Christ; I also have a physical home that I can return to, long after I have left my parents and finished college. Though I would not say I would feel lost or incomplete without Prescott, I would certainly not have as firm a grounding in my past and future.

I have been told many times that Abu Dhabi is my new home. Every time this is reiterated I reject it more. It’s not that Abu Dhabi can’t or isn’t my current home, but calling my new, singular home pains me, for it is not the home that Prescott is. This can often make me needlessly homesick. I would like to think though that this isn’t as long term as my relationship with P-Town. Hopefully, at some point, I can live here while still being home in Prescott with missing it. How this will work is beyond me, but I hope it does.

I accepted this when I left home, when I came here to NYUAD. And that’s fine with me. I’m just glad that I was able to leave home and still have what I left be home. I’m glad to have a place that remembers me and I it. I’m glad I have Prescott.

+24

2010-11-30T14:23:00.000-08:00

There are exactly 20 days till I fly home for Christmas. Not that anyone’s counting. After touching down in Phoenix, I will have 10 days to enjoy family, friends and food (I just realized that the three greatest things on this planet start with the letter f…). Though some students have a few extra days, this is generally not the case. Regardless, we start class on January 3^rd. This is when our mandatory J-term classes begin. That’s right NYU students: we have to take January classes.

To clarify for those who are not part of the NYU machine, NYU has two full semesters every year and an intensive course option during January. For most students, this time can be spent in NYC (whether you are taking a class or not) or at home. As taking a class normally will cost a student four to five thousand dollars, most opt to enjoy their January. We at NYUAD are not afforded such an option. This is included in many of our financial aid packages, but that doesn’t mean we want to have a 10 day winter break.

This is precipitous of an unusual requirement of NYUAD: we must complete 144 credits to graduate (after some very brief research, it would appear that NYUAD is one of the few, if not the only to require this many credits. The vast majority of US universities only require 120 credits for a BA or BS. Harvard is at 128. Correct me if this is erroneous). As every class offered is given a four credit weight, this means we must take 36 classes. We are then limited to no more than four classes in any given semester. Hence we must take a January course. Our high credit requirement is one of John Sexton’s efforts to both make it clear that NYUAD is no joke and to give our degrees some extra weight. While this seems reasonable, it disallows students to spend much time at home. (In a J-Sex town hall a few weeks ago, it was suggested that a 5 year plan might work instead of this. But really, come on John.)

Now, from what we are led to believe, we will have more substantial winter breaks in subsequent years. This year was something of a fluke due to the timing of Ramadan. However, many of us here, myself included, think that we should receive the option of going home for January and instead be allowed to take 5 courses in a semester. I am doubtful this will ever happen, and frankly given the difficulty of the courses here it would seem quite unwise. For now, I choose to dutifully take my January course without too much complaining.

Of course, we are provided the opportunity to take our J-term in Abu Dhabi, New York and other study away sites as course are available. This year, our choices also included Shanghai and London. Such options lessen the sting for those studying abroad, but I still poorly for students who must stay behind in AD. Also, we can only do this twice.

This brings me to another point: I will be in NYC this January. I look forward to experiencing a different urban setting and eating a ton of pizza and bagels, which should be a nice break from sheesh tawook and shwarma. (Don’t get me wrong, such things are delicious. So are zinkers. But those get their own post.) Also, I kind of miss the States. There is something inexplicable about being back in America that just feels right. I think home always feels right.

20 days till things feel right again.

Foundations

2010-11-24T23:40:00.001-08:00

Foundations of Science was more of a class than I would have ever thought possible. Not only did I learn an absurd amount of physics and chemistry, but it taught me what college is about and that I am not nearly as intelligent as I once thought I was. In addition, FOS 1 helped me understand more about myself. It’s not often that an academic course can lead to such academic and personal growth, so this phenomenon warrants at least a brief examination.

Foundations of Science, in brief, is a 7 week course that covers most if not all the topics covered in one to three-quarters of a semester of both chemistry and physics in a university. It is worth the same number of credits as a full semester of science. The course is divided between both in course work and in grades into respective branches of science. Physics and chemistry each have 6 problem sets, a midterm and a final. Shared between the two courses is a tutorial (an in-depth look at particular subject areas that meets once weekly, I took the physics tutorial) and a lab. I won’t go into what concepts are covered, but suffice it to say that you are flying through material. (And, to add even more fun, FOS 1 lab is computer programming.)

The difficulty of this course is jarring and initially appalling. Through several contacts at Stanford, Harvard, Yale and MIT (which are via friends here at NYUAD, so this is all third hand knowledge), FOS 1 is an order of magnitude faster than freshman science courses elsewhere. Admittedly, this is purely anecdotal and coming from singular sources, but the very fact that we have yet to find students elsewhere who admit to having a similarly paced class is worth noting. (On that note, if you think that you are the person who would like to admit such a thing, post in the comments!) However, my fellow students and I adjusted. But at every grade we were disappointed.

It turns out that there is a reason curves were created. Grades, especially for tests, in college are often down right depressing. As we were constantly told though, tests are created to be more difficult than necessary as to provide an open ended measuring device. Whether or not this is the case elsewhere is regardless, that is what was done here. I literally did not hear of a singularly impressive grade.

I sum this up with two quotes:

“There are no A+’s in college.” – Ingyin Zaw

“We did not bring you here [to Abu Dhabi] to fail.” – Erin Callihan

Through all of this though I learned important time management skills and I developed new study habits. For the first time I am working and studying in groups; more than this I am asking questions when I don’t understand rather than sitting and staring at a problem for hours till I can make sense of it. The fact that these are new developments is indicative of the pride that I used to carry in regards to school work. I was the smart student who gave help, I did not need it. It turns out that I am not a genius, and that I do need help. FOS 1 taught me that. I am not willing to say that I am humble. But I feel much closer to such than I once was.

I learned one last thing thanks to FOS: I do not intrinsically enjoy science and math (that second part is a different story that runs similar to this one). I enjoy the results of doing decently, but I do not enjoy the work getting there, even when I understand it. I once thought I enjoyed the sciences and math, but that enjoyment was far more tied to the pride I derived from easily achieved results. It turns out that I do not take pleasure in the work associated with those results. I learned this from actually having to spend time working and studying.

This is why I have decided to switch paths. I will now be pursuing a BA in History with intent to attend law school. Professors Gelfand, Zaw, Bernstein, Odeh and Wael, I thank you for a semester of learning in many ways. You have given foundations for much more than just science.

P.S. I’m back.

Conversion and Offense

2010-10-08T15:22:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: The following might well offend you. If you can’t deal with that, I suggest that you stop reading.

I did not intend my hiatus to end so prematurely. Fortunately, calling my hiatus indefinite has allowed me to make it absurdly short. I love being able to cover my bases.

Speaking of covering my bases, I left one very much open in Food (Alex Hates It). I most unfortunately used the term “convert” rather freely in my introduction. It is my belief that the poor use of this term led to the hellfire that I experienced on Facebook this last week. Most of those involved have apologized, and they have my immense respect for that. However, I think that it bears mentioning that the post that caused so many to become offended wasn’t even about what they were offended about. The post was on conservatism and liberalism in the area of liberal arts. Also, people ought to make an attempt to not be so easily offended. Life can be tough and it really just turns out best if we can sit back and go with the flow with getting up in arms every time something goes against what we believe.

Now, I need to clarify that when I used the term “convert”, I did not mean to say that I desired to personally change the minds of others. I instead meant that I would share the Good News of Christ Jesus and that I would sit back and hope that their hearts were open. If this was the case, Jesus would do all the converting. I simply used the term “convert” as it conveyed the final product and it far more efficiently communicated what I wished to convey. However, it did not convey it effectively. I am sorry for making this error and for any offense incurred by this mistake.

Now, not everybody will be happy with what I just wrote because it still means that I wish to see everybody a Christian. Quite apparently, this is offensive to some. I don’t understand why. Some will say that it is not cosmopolitan (I’ve covered this before) and not considerate to the beliefs of others. Firstly, cosmopolitanism does not preclude me wanting to see the world become a more Christian place. Second, as someone who believes in an absolute truth, I cannot in good conscious sit still as others believe erroneously. (Chances are that just offended you. Don’t let it, and it’s about to get worse.) And if you are not a Christian, some part of your belief system is gravely in error. Your opinion might well differ, and frankly you are not entitled to your opinion.

Let’s address that last phrase.

I have heard the following phrase (and its natural variants) quite a few times recently “That’s your opinion and you are well entitled to it.” As a Biblical literalist (which I am, feel free to grill me with your questions, I can answer most if not all), that phrase is completely wrong. Consider for a moment what an opinion is: it is an interpretation of something. As long as one is not a relativist (let’s hope you’re not), that something is a singular true thing, or truth. Therefore, there is going to be a right and wrong interpretation. To stop here, we could say that everyone is entitled to be wrong. But there is a God out there that made all of this, and we owe our existence to him. Inasmuch, we are his. And that means we are not entitled to be wrong because we aren’t entitled to anything, much less being wrong. The most that we are given is salvation and the least is death.

You might well think at this point that this is my opinion, and that you disagree with everything put forth above. And in your mind I am probably entitled to be wrong. Furthermore you might consider the fact that this is what I think, so it in itself is a perspective. I’ve got some news for you though: this is wasn’t I think. This is what I know to be true. And you’re wrong. And frankly, you aren’t entitled to that.

Much love,

The Lesser Scholar.

P.S. I understand the need for public discourse and and differing opinions. Both make us better, more informed people. But in the end someone has to be right and someone has to be wrong.

Hiatus

2010-10-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

Until further notice, I will not be posting here on Unheard Sermon. In addition, my writing for NYULocal is over. Also, this blog will no longer feed into my Facebook account. This effectively means that I will not be writing in any public capacity for a currently undetermined period of time.

I would like to thank all those who have been reading for enduring my long winded and occasionally provocative rants. I will return with very few, if any changes to my writing style. It is simply a question of when.

Best Regards,

Stephen

Food (Alex Hates It)

2010-10-02T14:56:00.001-07:00

Alex Wang has introduced me to the furthest depths of depression. By this, I mean that he has introduced me to Morrisey and his hatred of The Killers. Basically, Alex hates all that is good in this world. Fortunately, he is my roommate. And I can convert him. There is a lot of converting that needs to happen here. Firstly, many of my classmates are atheists or weak-sauce Christians and this needs to change. However, religious conversion is a very touchy subject here in the UAE. Think deportation level of touchy. For Muslims, I must wait to be approached with a desire to know about Christ. I don’t know if there are any other rules. But at this point I choose to do my best to show Christ’s love as a witness. Second, people need to be converted to some level of conservatism. This is generally predicated on the previous conversion. All in turn, I suppose.

It turns out though that the vast majority of intellectuals are at least left leaning. I dare not make this generalization of my classmates, as they have made it very clear they don’t like me making generalizations about them. But, at the very least, I am definitely one of the most conservative people here. At one point, I made the mistake of saying that I kind of liked Bush and that I would totes vote for Cheney for President. Oh. My. Goodness. Advice for those who agree with the previous two statements: never, never, never voice them. I’ll do it for you and take the fall, as I have already dealt with it. It turned out ugly to say the least.

Back to the point at hand though, why is it that so many liberals go for liberal arts degrees (ignore the semantics of the situation, as it turns out there is no correlation)? I once read a very interesting article that I can no longer find (StumbleUpon brought it to me…) which postulated that it had to do with the fact that those who are word crafters (basically, a liberal arts or Bachelor of Arts student) are most valued in a progressive, slightly socialistic society and they therefore like the idea of liberalism because of greed. (Those with Bachelors of Science statistically are far more evenly distributed along the political spectrum, so he dismissed them.) So, if this were to be true, I would vote that the inverse is true: liberals like to have liberal arts degrees as they value the work of such degree holding people more than others.

Regardless of the reasons, I am sitting to the right of the majority here at NYAUD. Unfortunately, this means I am not sitting in the argumentative cat-bird seat. It’s often a bit of the ultraviolent, some twenty to one if you will. I have access to my reserve of facts and reasonings, but my political opposition often has the mental resources of about five people. Though they have yet to change my mind on anything (if anything, their feel good liberalism drives me even further to the conservatism of my rearing), they often come out appearing to have won. I attribute this to the fact that we end up at basic beliefs about humanity, and it’s my view of humanity against that of everyone else in the room. And the majority tends to look right. That’s just a fact of life. The minority ends up stomping its feet in frustration.

As elections close in, these debates will continue to occur with greater frequency. I’ll just continue to read National Review and attempt to help my classmates see the light.

Post Script: The title for this post makes very little sense. I was going to write on the food here but Alex wanted me to write about him instead.

The Sheik Watches Me Sleep

2010-09-16T13:36:00.001-07:00

I am sad to report that Abu Dhabi is not all glitter. It is not Eldorado and it is not studded in diamond.

Firstly, there's the issue of actual school work. Sure, it's the reason why I'm here, but that doesn't mean that I have to adore it. Though I do adore my Calculus class. What can I say? I'm a romantic and a math major. But homework is beginning to take an actual portion of my life again, which is really a good thing. It provides structure to my life and allows me to set reasonable, daily goals. This is turn gives me a sense of accomplishment other than that pseudo-accomplished feeling that accompanies getting out of bed during the summer months. (Yes, I was that lazy this last summer. What did you do with the last 7 weeks of your life? Oh, you didn't move to Abu Dhabi? Then don't judge me.)

Secondly, there is the issue of living under a monarchy. Now, keep in mind that I am running a risk even posting what I am about to, but it must be done. His Highness Sheik Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan is in fact a King. Now, he is a good monarch. People here love him, and for good reason. He has ruled justly and fairly. And, in fact, he is my kind and generous benefactor (Thanks, Sheik Khalifa!). But, he is still a monarch. He might well call himself a president and act de facto as such, but ruling party is passes on by blood line. As a red blooded American, I am basically obligated to dislike monarchies if on nothing more than principle alone. That is to say that I dislike the establishment that the Sheik represents, while still liking the Sheik.

Unfortunately, my recent coming of cultural age (if it could be called such) deems that I have to take a second look at this dislike for monarchies. Is it only my Western ideals that dictate my desire to see democracy spread and monarchies gone? More than likely. Is there really an issue with a monarchy if it really, truly works? I don't know. And for now, that has to be my honest answer. If the people are happy and the majority want a king, isn't that some sort of twisted democracy anyway (not looking for logical debates here, just throwing this stuff out)? In the end, there might well be no grounds for my monarchy-disliking. If that's the case, than I stand corrected.

And just on a side note, a gloriously lit photo of his Highness Sheik Khalifa sits on the building opposite mine. He watches me. All through the day and through the night whilst I sleep…His gaze is so wise and discerning. Maybe I'm already turning!

There are many other things that I am growing accustomed to in this place. One of which is the concept of a labouring class. These people are so patient and kind. You literally can't "No, you go first them" them out. They will always win and somehow I always go through the door first. They open a door, and thank me. I don't get it. And I really can't escape it either. At the university cafeteria, they bus our plates and pick up our trash. There isn't even an option for us to take the initiative. No trash cans or bins for dishes. Not only is very un-college like, it seems almost inhuman. It seems inhuman to have a class of migrant workers always working to service and convenience me. I don't think I'm quite comfortable with it. I'll write more on it in the future. That's it for now.

From the capital of global academy and the new beast that is NYUAD, this is the Lesser Scholar saying goodnight.

Here We Go

2010-09-04T22:14:00.000-07:00

Super short post:

I leave tomorrow. Signing off for the Arizona side of Lesser Scholar. See you all in Abu Dhabi.

Monetary Injustices

2010-08-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

It has recently come to my attention that I haven’t voice much criticism of NYUAD. This is mostly because I don’t have much to be critical about. Many of my issues are petty and mostly selfish. I do have one issue though, and it’s actually with NYU in New York City, or at least a certain discrepancy between NYU and NYUAD, and that is with financial aid. First we must start with some back story, so bare with me.

My sister is a genius. And, she is hard working. She got all A’s in high school, I did not. She could have slacked off and done just as well on paper, though she would have received 91’s instead of 99’s and she wouldn’t currently have a basis in 4 languages. She skipped a grade many years ago, so she graduated with me this last year. And by all means, she was equal or greater then me. She did not apply to NYUAD because they did not have her major, which is a perfectly legitimate. She did apply to NYU though. Of course, she got in. Monday, though, she will be attending an instate college.

This was because NYU was just too damned expensive. With financial aid and scholarships, she was still going to owe something to the tune of 20.000 a year. No, you didn’t read that wrong and I did not mistype. Twenty thousand dollars per year of loans. At the instate university she is attending, she is going to have only two thousand a year in loans. Obviously, when she first got her level of financial aid back, she appealed it. She was told that she was given the absolute maximum based upon our parents income. She asked why there was such a discrepancy between her and my fin-aid packages. I had the same question.

The answer is really quite simple and very rational, NYUAD and NYU operate on different funding and have different fin-aid departments. Fair ‘nough, but why was NYU willing to throw so much at me but extend so little to my sister? She literally got nothing merit based, yet I was merited enough to send half way across the planet? Let me stress something I mentioned earlier: She’s just as smart is not smarter than me and she works harder. She is a better college candidate than me. I’m not bragging about her, it’s just the plain and simple truth.

NYU has an incredible deficit of merit based funding for students. Even I was completely funded on financial aid, nothing was merit based. I realize that NYU has no money and is in possession of the smallest endowment per student in the Ivy League. There is a reason for this though, NYU is freaking huge. I mean it is really big. That’s not necessarily bad, there are many students who deserve a good education. But there comes a point at which the affordability of one person’s education trumps the eligibility of another’s right to that same education.

I probably should now say that my sister is by no means attending a bad school. For her major, it’s in the top ten colleges in the country. She has huge opportunity there. Like me though, she once dreamed for a prestigious college. Getting to places like NYU or Harvard is more about the realization that you worked your ass off and here’s the proof. Her dream was crushed because of money, and that just pisses me off.

NYU students are the most indebted (monetarily speaking) in the nation. And that is certainly not something to be proud of. And NYU, don’t think you can cover that fact up having NYUAD students being debt free. Because though I will not owe a dime to a creditor, I owe something to academy and to decency to decry the monetary injustices of my fellow students in NYC.

Uncaring and with Purpose

2010-08-17T00:25:00.000-07:00

(Fair warning: long post ahead.)

Believe it or not, at some point I will around to writing Candidate Weekend: Part 2. I realize that it’s over due, but I just haven’t felt like writing the damned thing. The past bores me. Especially when it’s as old as March. But the history of the last week is still interesting. Especially if last week was last week. I, for the first time, went camping last week. You have to understand my background with camping for that statement to really mean much. I have been insanely vocal against camping for many years, going as far as calling it “barbaric”, “ greedy”, “filthy” and “selfish”. If an analogy were to be drawn, me camping would be like President Obama signing a nationwide version of Arizona’s SB 1070 into law. But it did happen. More importantly though, I really enjoyed myself.

I spent seven days in Colorado’s fresh mountain air. I visited a natural hot spring known as the hippie dip. I tried to get coffee at about 6 in the evening in Paonia and failed as everything there closes by 4. I made an attempt at rock climbing and also swam in the Colorado river. Oh, and I swam in a mountain stream that was about 45 degrees (that’s really cold, by the way). That combined with a seven mile hike and some of the coolest people in the world made the last seven days one hell of a week.

I decided to go on this camping trip for several reasons, but one of them was how it presented such an interesting dichotomy to how I will be living in Abu Dhabi while simultaneously being something akin to it. Enough of the academic speaking from within my soul, I’ll start on how the two are different.

Camping is dirty. I just have less of a problem with that fact now. Abu Dhabi is not going to be dirty. In fact, I’ve already priced out maids. And laundry services for that matter. This really points to something entirely bigger and rather overarching in why I felt that camping would provide me with experiences that are exceedingly opposite of what my life in Abu Dhabi will be like. To camp is to rough it, to not know what you are going to do tomorrow or for that matter where you will be sleeping. All that you really know is that you have a sleeping bag and some ramen and a shotgun. And that’s an awesome feeling. Abu Dhabi is all about certainty for the day to day. Everything is structured and metered. I have a schedule and specified room where I will sleep every night. Everything will be provided to me, my life in the UAE will be handed to be on a silver platter in exchange for a few essays and some aced tests that I procrastinated on studying for. My life will not be rough.

I see merit in both of these situations. Admittedly, my future plans in Abu Dhabi sound more pleasant for a long period of time. I now appreciate the “roughing it” life style though. Though one week isn’t that long, it will help to put my first semester into perspective that life is vastly different for some people. Difference, ironically, is where the similarities begin for my short mountain reprieve and my future in the sand.

Camping was a bit of a change in my life. Sure, it was seven days. But those seven days were the longest that I have ever lived as an adult, away from the grip of my parents. I didn’t have to pretend to be the person that my parents wanted me to be. I could just let it go and not care. And this is something that Abu Dhabi will obviously provide for me on a much deeper scale. I can either go and reinvent myself or continue to build on the person that I have worked on becoming. Camping and going off to any college provide a sort of freedom that many might never get to experience at all. You are allowed to be as base a person that you really are, whether through camping’s allowance for the less caring side of a man or through college’s allowance of, really, anything.

From my time camping, I can clearly see that I am not as a bad a person that I sometimes think I am. The mental confines of being a child or a teenager are really not holding me back too much. In fact, if I might be so bold, I think that I was actually a better person. My natural rebellion likes to dissipate when there is nothing to rebel against, so I think about God more often when my mom isn’t constantly reminding me to do so. I sing hymns rather then pop songs and tell fewer dirty jokes when those around me aren’t judging me. Of course, this is the me that I’ve been building for a long time and I could well decide to destroy him and build an entirely new person for college. That sounds like too much work though.

I now know that I will be a life long camper. Not that I plan to move to the forest upon graduation, but rather that I will take every opportunity presented to take to the wilderness and live uncaringly though with purpose. I also know that it isn’t impossible to live this in Abu Dhabi also. The key is finding out what not to care about and what to have purpose for.

Go Forth (or Give us Four Years)

2010-08-03T23:10:00.000-07:00

It turns out that not everyone going to NYUAD is flying 9000 miles to get to the UAE. My total travel happens to around 24 hours. That’s miserable. Others, like a gentleman from Qatar, have a twenty minute flight. Some even live in Abu Dhabi. Then the circle moves slowly outward, moving to Hungary and Kenya, Russia and Australia and China, South Africa and Europe. Then there are those of us from across the pond, with the furthest away being in California and various places throughout Latin America.

We are all coming from various distances, yet we are all pioneers to a new, dangerous place. Do not interpret that as if I were saying Abu Dhabi was a dangerous place. It is not in the least bit unsafe. The dangerous place to which I refer is the university itself. NYUAD is a new venture that presents many apparent and probably even more hidden risks. What if a major war erupts in the Middle East? What if funding is removed? We could continue playing this “what if” game, but I’m not so cruel and I have no desire to be so tedious. Suffice to say though, our quest is fraught with many more perils then that of the average college student,

There was a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that outlined many of the potential pitfalls that NYUAD could find itself in. It was actually a refreshingly well thought out op-ed. Something in it stuck with me though, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. The writer referred to our class as “pioneers”. That phrase still strikes me. We’re pioneers. How often have pioneers had the pleasure of knowing that were just that? But everyone else knows that same fact, that we’re pioneers (I like to type that phrase, so if you don’t like it, too bad). The world is watching us, and we are painfully aware of this.

Quite a bit of the coverage has caused negative sentiment from the vast world of bloggers. Especially the New York Times article from mid-June. NYUAD hasn’t even had a chance to welcome its first class of pioneers onto its campus and the world has already begun to condemn it. I would ask them to wait ten years, but we aren’t going to need that long to prove that NYUAD is going to become a beacon of academy and social change and cosmopolitism. If I were to write a letter to the world, I would look a lot like this:

Dear World,

I know you have a lot of concerns about New York University Abu Dhabi. I understand your issues and in fact sympathize with a few of them. It seems like you won’t even give us a chance though. You call us student spoiled and our university unsound and founded on poor moralistic grounds. But those two concepts are really hard to determine at this early point. And believe me, this machine isn’t stopping anytime soon. So, why not give us a chance? In fact, give us four years. I promise in four years we will change your mind, and for that matter, you.

Thanks,

Stephen

I might bulk it up a bit if I were to actually send that, but I’m not going to send due to the enormous amount of paper that it would take. And postage. Mailing stuff isn’t exactly cheap.

To those coming with me to AD, we are pioneers, let’s show the world what we can do. Let us show the world that the world can still change and there is a vast jungle of cosmopolitan academy that is still unexplored. Let’s map that jungle for them.

And world, give us four years.

Change

2010-07-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

In fifty days, where will you be? Seven weeks might seem like a chunk of time, but it’s time enough for your world to change. Okay, try this. Look at your life 50 days prior to today. Much different? Damn. Well, my life has changed a lot in the last month and half. I live in a new city and I am retired. My days are filled with sleep and Facebook rather then being filled with school and work and being sprinkled with Facebook while wishing for sleep. Oh, and I’m graduated. Fifty days can change a lot. So, where you will be 5 September?

I know where I’ll be. Most of my day will be on spent on planes. Unfortunately, those planes will be Delta. Fortunately, I’ve already checked in and I have decent seats. More fortunately, I will be travelling to Abu Dhabi. I will land in Dubai on 6 September sometime around 19:30. From there, I will take a two hour ride to Abu Dhabi to check into my dorm in Sama Tower. At this point, I’m actually somewhat intimidated. I don’t know how I will react.

It’s not the culture shock or the distance that bother me, it’s just the severe change. Don’t get me wrong, I like change very much, and I have always claimed this fact. But, life always seems to change in appropriate amounts. No change has ever been so drastic, not at least that I can remember. If I may draw the comparison, it will be like quitting my current life cold turkey. I’m going to take my person and cut out all the rest in one fell swoop. Again, this seems so severe.

I’m hoping that I’ll simply face this challenge with purpose, subtle power and perseverance. Of course, it will probably turn out that I just procrastinate and keep my grades by the skin of my teeth while drowning my loneliness in a deluge of self pity and delicious Middle Eastern delicacies. And coffee. Then again, maybe I’ll just drink enough coffee so that everything gets done in turn. I think that I shall try that path first.

Digressing, change is an important part of life. In fact, I would dare say it is life. Just consider living the same day over and over. I’ll wait whilst you consider. Finished? Good. You’re disgusted and horrified, aren’t you? Well good. Horror and disgust build character. Furthermore, it should now be evident that life is defined by the manner in which it changes. Life = Change. Okay? You agree! Splendid!

So, what will change for you in the next 50 days? How will you live in the next 50 days? I challenge you to take some aspect of your life and try to change it in the next 7 weeks. It doesn’t have to be big, just don’t be stagnate for the rest of summer. It’s really not too much to ask. I just looked at the clock, this wont be posted till Sunday. ARG! So, I am going to ask more of you. Where will be in 49 days? What will you change in the next 49 days?

Cosmopolitanism and Christianity

2010-07-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

So, after reading through Cosmopolitanism, I found myself both satisfied and troubled. The book lent itself many enlightening concepts that I, quite frankly, just ate up (something along the lines of “Om nom nom”). My only major issue came up in the chapter on the counter-cosmopolitan. This issue is that I am a devout Christian, and I have to say that bundled up in that is that I believe there are universals. Now, I am a tolerant person who does not believe in crusade like evangelism. I accept that not all will convert to Christianity, and though this does cause me an engrained sadness, I can work through it to see things from the view of others.

Where the real issue for me is where Appiah claims that cosmopolitans must subscribe to the concept of pluralism, or perhaps it is more in its conclusion that I am taken back. “Cosmopolitans think that there are many values worth living by and that you cannot live by all of them. So we hope and expect that different people and different societies will embody different values. (But they have to be values worth living by.) (Appiah, 144)” Starting from the top down, I believe that there are many values worth believing in and living by and that one cannot live by all them in that I know that the Bible does present many values and that we cannot live perfectly. So with this, I say fine. But it is the next phrase that touches my base in the universalism that I must subscribe to as a Christian. This is because I think that all societies are held to the same Biblical values that I am and that I indeed hope that they will embody these.

That might sound pretentious or single minded, but to fully believe in the Bible as the infallible word of God I must object to the idea that there are some different set of values then those presented in the Bible. Now, I can concede that there are many taboos that, though not stated in the Bible, are perfectly acceptable. There is a distinction though between taboos and values. Does this make me a counter-cosmopolitan? Though I agree with much else presented by Appiah?

Well, earlier in Cosmopolitism, Appiah says that “practices and not principles are what enable us to live in peace (Appiah, 85).” So, as long as I do not act in such way that go against the central concept of cosmopolitanism that is my moral obligation to my fellow man as is outlined in the final chapter, so do my principles really matter as to whether I am a cosmopolitan? I would vote not. Your thoughts?

Candidate Weekend: Part I

2010-06-13T00:50:00.000-07:00

(The following events begin on 26 February 2010)

I was sitting at my computer, nonchalantly going through my evening routine of checking Facebook, reading the news and swiftly glancing at my email. It was late, my mom and sister were both in bed. When I got into my Gmail account, I saw an email from NYU and my heart stopped momentarily. I quickly opened the email. I yelled. It was a response letting me know that I had been selected as a Candidate for the March Candidate weekend. Running upstairs, I woke my mother with the follow message: "I'm going to Abu Dhabi over spring break!" Not phased, she told me that would would take care of it in the morning. I spent the rest of the night researching New York University Abu Dhabi and why they were flying me out to the Middle East.

The next morning began at 6 o'clock. Very quickly we had all the appropriate documents signed and my passport photo taken. I was off to apply for my passport and fax the documents to NYC, where they required them post haste. The next few weeks were a hazy and furious cloud of emails and travel plans. My passport arrived with no time to spare and all flight arrangements were in place shortly thereafter.

The week I was supposed to leave was also the week when I was to hear back from MIT. At this point, MIT and NYU AD were approximately equal. MIT day was that Sunday and I left Wednesday. Sunday came and MIT said no. So fine, I still had Abu Dhabi as a possibility. Of course, I packed last minute as any responsible high school does. The next morning, I was sitting in a cubicle outside my dad's office waiting to leave for my flight. Begrudgingly and distractedly working on homework, I quickly found myself at the airport. My father and I worked our way into line in Terminal 2 for my first flight via United Airlines to Chicago, where I was to take a direct to Abu Dhabi.

There was a shocking number of people in line, and soon I received a voice-mail with no missed call. I hate it when that happens. The message was from the travel agency, my flight had been canceled. My father and I alternated calling ProTravel, desperately trying to find a flight that would get me to Chicago on time. The next flight was an hour later on American Airlines, but it was booked. The travel agency said "No problem." They gave us a info for a flight voucher that was actually later in the day, but would get me on the sooner flight. I was soon in possession of my voucher for a 6 o'clock flight to Chicago. At American, that voucher turned into a 1 one o'clock flight. Thanks to the miracle that is Priority Verification, I booted someone on an already over booked flight. Half an hour later, I was at the gate, waiting patiently.

Neda

2010-06-10T02:36:00.001-07:00

Neda Agha-Soltan was shot 20 June last year by the Iranian militia. She was nonviolently protesting the Iranian election results. As many will remember, her death was captured on video and sent around the world via the internet. She quickly became the symbol of the Iranian suppression of free speech.

It's funny, if I had been told last June that I would be moving to the Middle East coming this September, I would have probably laughed. This June is a different situation. And this brings Neda's death into a different perspective for me. I feel far responsible for change in Iran then I did a year ago. This despite being in a nearly identical personal and physical situation. I'm not going to Iran, and I'm not even close to leaving for Abu Dhabi. Yet I want to do something radical to promote change. I've done the most I can for now, reposting Neda's story and sending an email to the Iranian government (go to http://nedaspeaks.org/ and click on act). But I wish I could do vastly more.

This is where my future situation in the Middle East becomes both an aid and a detriment. I will be in a position to voice my concerns to the area in which it happened. But, I also can't become to vocal of, say, Islamic oppression of women. This could anger the government of Abu Dhabi, the kind benefactors of my education. And I realize that morally that shouldn't get in the way. However, if I were to moralistically sacrifice my education for "the cause" I would have to come home per my student visa. So my ability to create change would be drastically reduced. So, I am stuck being partially muzzled instead of becoming put in a crate on the other side of the planet. I have a feeling that this will be an issue for the next several years. Huh.

Rest in Peace

2010-06-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

As I start this blog, I fully intend for it to have a definite ending at no later then my graduation from NYU Abu Dhabi. So, let's begin by a moment of silence for this blog's short life.

RIP The Unheard Sermon of a Lesser Scholar
June 2010 - May 2014

Now that is out of the way. Everything here will be automatically sent to my Facebook notes. So for my lazy friends, you have no excuse. I'll try not to be too condescending. But I will be honest through the entire writing of this blog. I'll make sure to warn you though if I intend to rant for any particularly long period of time.