So, I’m pretty excited with the fact that my head hasn’t exploded from all this ridiculous philosophy. But seriously, I am getting used to the way Hegel writes, so the readings have become easier, so class has become a little easier. It is amazing that someone can explain such complex ideas like religion and culture, by starting with the simplest form of being or the simplest form of attaining knowledge. I can really just appreciate Hegel’s work, now that I can kind of understand what on earth he’s talking about. And, well, Brian, my tutor makes the material much more straightforward. Sometimes, after spending the night reading the assignment and finally thinking I have a grasp on the material, I show up to class, and Brian explains the text in a totally different way… but a way that makes much more sense than how I took it. Makes me feel a little crazy.
The coolest part, though, is that I have taken his ideas and applied them to my life. It’s kind of weird and corny trying to explain the situation, but the other day I was trying to give someone some advice, and I kind of used Hegel’s ideas to articulate my own. It was kind of bizarre when I realized I was employing Hegel in real life…(I stopped the conversation and thought for a bit when I realized it… kind of awkward, yes) but kind of cool realizing that all this seemingly jumbled and distant philosophy was actually applicable in everyday. Yay for understanding! Finally!
Anywhosies. It’s really funny walking around the campus and being able to tell which people are in which class. For example, there are about 20 students always walking in a really hurried pace, “freaking out” is written all over them, and there is a general sense of never having time. They would be in Mai’s Communities and Conservation class. There’s another group of students who can ALWAYS be found in their classroom or together in general, and with globes… Spherical Trigonometry. It’s a pretty funny funk.
So a couple weeks ago, Quest had the crazy amazing opportunity to host like 93 ambassadors from all over the world for an afternoon. They were doing an annual forum, and this year, they all traveled around BC. Apparently they go to a new province every year, so it’ll be a while years before they all come back to BC. I got to be one of the 30ish student hosts, who got to dine with the ambassadors, and it was such an amazing experience. I met ambassadors from several different countries and was able to have lunch with the ambassadors from the Philipines, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Kuwait, and Sweden. It was sooo sweet! 
So this is all the student hosts and some Quest faculty with the ambassadors (and some of their spouses). It was a really cool opportunity, but the best part was when the ambassador from Egypt spoke on behalf of the ambassadors, and said that Quest was in the top ten reasons to come to British Columbia. He also said that they each vowed to send at least one student from their country to Quest. So cool!!
So that was an amazing opportunity, and we have some video of what went down! This is me and Lindsay, another student at Quest shaking hands with the ambassadors from Kuwait and Cameroon!
And this is a video of Quest students and faculty and the ambassadors trying to get organized for some pictures.
So good. So I suppose I’ll get going on the Hegel again. Ha, gross. (But really insightful.) Cheers.
Hey,
I know this a bit of a weird question, but do you know the Spit, Quest’s student newspaper? I’m trying to find out some information on it, but since I’m not in Squamish, I haven’t been able to find out any information on it.
Brendan
Hey, I am really sorry about the lack of response! Yeah, the Spit is our newspaper up here, but we haven’t posted anything online as far as I know. I can send a PDF if you’d like to see it!