Overwhelmed

So, it's only been a week since school started and I've already hit panic mode. That first day at the gym was just the beginning...

Now I'm much happier in the gym, in case you're wondering. I just ignore most of the people who intimidate me... and for those I can't avoid, I give the usual pleasantries-- colleagues and others who will think I'm a snot if I don't say hello, for example. My trusty trainer has told me that one day I will be the person intimidating others. Of course, that caused me to laugh so hard that my belly jiggled with glee, indicating just how far away from THAT we are!

But back to being overwhelmed...

Yes, the first assignment in my one class just about put me in the crazy house... and I haven't even finished it yet.

So the first assignment asks us to look at questions like: What is knowledge? How do we know things scientifically? What does it mean to think scientifically?

My gut response is: How the hell do I know?!

I spent my weekend reading philosophy... to the extent that by the end of the weekend, I was quite depressed... I've never studied this stuff before. I don't even really know who the major philosophers are, or what they thought.

I mean, I know Socrates lived before Locke, who lived before Marx, who lived before Derrida, but that's hardly impressive now, is it? Not when I have to hand in a paper to a prof who's a walking encyclopedia of philosophy and philosophers from various traditons since the beginning of time.

So, I met with aforementioned prof yesterday, hoping to have my fears quelled. He offered me a list of other books to read (none of which I will have time to finish before my paper is due on Monday) and then told me not to worry.

And yet... somehow that makes me worry more...