HIST 342: History of the European Witch HuntsSince high school, I have leaned more towards the social sciences, and away from math and natural sciences. Therefore, my Political Science major is accompanied by a Law and Society Minor, as well as a History and English Minors respectively. When I saw HIST 342: History of the European Witch Hunts on the list of Honors-accredited classes, I knew I had to take it.
This course proved to be one of the most rigorous I have taken in my time here at Drury. As a first semester sophomore, an advanced course outside of my major was the challenge I was looking for; and this course delivered. Dr. Wolbrink, a professor of history focusing in European history, assigned more reading, one of the lengthiest, and most compelling course I believe Drury has to offer. I can rightly say this course belongs in the Honors curriculum here at Drury because it looks outside of the United States and it dives into a topic that many just barely graze the top layer of. The readings were interesting, and the workload prepared me for my next two years in higher level courses. So I can say that this class kicked my ass in the best way possible. |
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Dylan Thomas // "Do not go gentle into that good night"
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PLSC 335: The Supreme Court and Constitutional LawBecoming a partner at a private law firm dealing with civil litigation is the end goal for me, so to take this class was a given. Dr. Ponder has been a solid guide in working through courses dealing with the American political system, and this class had been in the back of my mind since looking through the required courses for my degree.
In this class, we read cases and opinions every week, and were constantly tested in class on our knowledge of the cases, from the background, to the majority and dissenting opinions by each justice. We also tried our hands at a rough few memo-length briefs throughout the semester, all culminating to writing our own relatively short case briefs at the end of the semester to preset to Missouri Court of Appeals judges. Our final exercise in this class was to write that brief with a partner, and then present it and argue it in front of the real-life judges as if we were arguing the cases ourselves. This was by far the most memorable part of the course, and the most stress inducing. Not only was this the closest I had come to my endgame, but it made me appreciate law that much more. The only surprise that came with this presentation is that my partner was injured the day before and could not compete with me as we had planned. So I took up the mantle and debated, argued, and reasoned with the judges by myself and defended our case for the petitioner on my own. I was awarded two extra minutes to cover what she couldn't, but I was told that I help my own just fine without my partner. This need to adapt to any situation is one of the ways I impress myself and others everyday. |
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