Week 15

This semester has flown by! It is hard to fathom how much has happened over the past 15 weeks- I started over at a new school, met new friends, and grew as a student. After transferring from Washington State University, Gonzaga has truly given me better a college experience after just 15 weeks in comparison to my entire year WSU. I never imagined myself taking ever taking a religion class again after leaving my private Catholic elementary and middle school. In my video essay, I talk about how I'm now able to view Jesus with a more intelligent and close eye because I'm reexamining him now with a more advanced education after a six year absence from religion. This class has shown me how much I have grown as a student because I can, for example, recognize aspects of Bible that I didn't appreciate or notice before knowing certain historical events or denotative/connotative meanings behind terms. The topic of my video essay was the how form criticism changed my understanding of the New Testament, and how we view Jesus as human or divine. In my essay I chose to purposely incorporate sayings and quotes between my main points, and my pictures reflected how I see Jesus' humanity and divinity through my daily life. Family pictures were extremely important to me because I thank our divine God everyday for blessing me with them, and they have played a key role in my Catholic upbringing. My friends are also included because they represent how Jesus can be a constant friend. I had a very difficult time using my iMovie because I'm not very technically gifted, and had to spend most of my time figuring out the program. I also had an EXTREMELY difficult and frustrating time with uploading my video to YouTube. My Zagmail account was not working to upload a video, and I ended up having to create a new Gmail account. I was not anticipating a 56 minute upload time for my video, and thought the hour and half I allotted before the deadline would give me plenty of time. After the difficulties with Zagmail and long upload, I got very upset when I missed the deadline. I have never uploaded a video to YouTube so this was quite the experience. However, I thought the assignment was a good way to end the semester and related back to beginning weeks on mindful learning. I have horrible test anxiety, and I have really appreciated your understanding of the not focusing the class based on cramming information just to be tested and forgotten. This video essay was creative alternative to a cumulative exam, and I enjoyed the freedom to chose my topic based on what I thought was the most beneficial to my education. I think I did a good job with my video essay, but would have definitely appreciated my instruction on how to work YouTube. I enjoyed my semester in your class, and you have reassured me the value behind a close teacher-student relationship. A very merry (and early) Christmas to you and your family, and thank you for the fun, unique ways to learn about the New Testament.

Week 14

This week's reading can be related to chocolate. Chocolate connoisseurs love to share, connect, and discuss good chocolate with other chocolate connoisseurs. Chocolate has been on my mind since Tuesday's Jesus at the Movies, Chocolat. In the movie Vianne is a chocolatier who is passionate about sharing her savory treats, uniting separated family, and discussing art of making decadent chocolate with her apprentice. She offers a sample of her tasty treats to all- the rich and poor, judgmental and crazy- and doesn't discriminate. She encourages her fellow uptight townspeople to indulge in chocolate, and live vicariously through a simple splurge. While reading The First Paul chapter seven, I couldn't help but to connect Paul's messages of living together "in Christ" with Chocolat. Paul's messages of living with Christ, shared communities, rich and poor, and gifts are the topics that stood out to me as relatable to the movie. Paul wrote about being "in christ", "spirit of christ", and "body of christ" in reference to discussing how to live life through faith. This is similar to Vianne offering her chocolate as a way to live through something daring, and also to connect the community like Paul does. Paul's encounter with the significant class divisions in Corinth, is similar to Vianne's encounter with the division between the outcasts (Josephine and the River Rats). Both Paul and Vianne try to seek a way to show the possibility of a disconnect between the competing groups. Paul and Vianne are also similar because the both help others to understand the value of their natural gifts. Paul wants people to understand spiritual gifts, and Vianne wants people to understand gifts of personal skills. I think this course has taught me to relate the Bible and religious figures to my daily life and the 21st century.