My hands shake as I clasp my cross necklace around my neck and put on my class ring. I twist and turn in front of the small mirror that came with the dorm and make sure that my outfit looks good. It's the first day of classes and I need to make sure I make a good impression. "First impressions are everything." My father would always tell me. Father and mother always made sure that we appeared presentable in meeting people for the first time. As the pastor's daughter, I always make sure I make a good impressions and won't embarrass my parents.
I'm wearing one of my yellow floral maxi skirts with white flowers and a white lacey blouse that is tucked into the skirt. I'm also wearing my gold sandals that I bought this past summer on one of my rare trips to the outlet mall. I put on my gold watch I got for my past birthday and run my wooden brush through my hair one more time. I grab my strawberry chapstick and put a coat of it on my lips before grabbing my backpack and double checking that I have everything I need. Books. Check. Folders. Check. Calculator. Check. Pencil pouch. Check. Notebooks. Check. Laptop. Check.
Everything is where it's supposed to be so I grab a granola bar from one of my shelves and eat it while I wait for Samira. Turns out we have two classes together so we're gonna walk together and buy some breakfast before we go since class doesn't start until 8. Almost all of my classes are in the mornings except for one. I really like it because it gives me more time to do whatever errands and homework I need to do before it gets too late in the evening. Plus, I'm used to getting up early for school and church. I would always get up at least an hour before my parents so I could say my prayers and read my bible before breakfast at 8.
"Okay, I'm ready," Samira says and slings her black Nike book bag over her back. I stand up from the bed and grab my book bag and phone and walk out the door with her, double checking that the door is locked. There's a few girls and guys who are also leaving and some say hi to us as we all walk to the elevators. I'm not very good at small talk so I keep to myself and listen to Samira talk to one of the girls about where she got her sneakers at. Once we get off the elevator, Samira and I head straight to one of the small cafes to get breakfast. The air is very warm for being so early in the morning but there's a small breeze that blows my hair around. I hold my hair and my skirt end in my hand as we make our way into the cafe that immediately smells like tea and hot coffee. I pat down all of my hair flyaways in the line and straighten out my skirt so everything is back in its rightly place.
I order an avocado toast breakfast with cherry tomatoes and feta cheese and a bottle of lemon water. I was pleasantly surprised when looking at this menu that there are actually some healthy things on it. I was never allowed to eat unhealthy foods for breakfast like pancakes and French toast, unless it was "organic." I don't know if I could bring myself to eat them anyways. Samira said that's probably going to change the further along the school year gets.
I eat my breakfast but my stomach is starting to get butterflies. I put down my fork before I finish eating and I can already hear my mother telling me to not waste any food and to keep on eating.
"What's wrong?" Samira asks as she take a sip of her latte.
"Nothing. I'm just getting nervous for classes," I admit.
Samira gives me a sympathetic look. "I understand that. There's nothing to be nervous about though Eva. Teachers are gonna love you, smarty pants."
I chuckle a little. "Thanks, I guess."
"What you should be nervous is the shitload of homework that professors are going to give you these first few days. Latrell told me they always give you a lot. Isn't that straight bullshit? I mean who gives homework the first day of class?" She throws her hands up and I shrug my shoulders. I've learned the last few days of knowing Samira that she really likes to talk with her hands. It's kind of funny watching her rant or get really excited about something and throwing her hands all around. I think it makes her unique and fun to talk to. With her, there's never a dull moment. Unlike me.
My mom would lecture one me on how I threw away my toast before finishing it all but Samira and I had to leave for class otherwise we would be late and we can't be late for the first day of school. When we get to the classroom, I recognize some people who were in our freshman group on move-in day. I sit right beside Samira at one table and the professor comes in a few minutes before 8. I get out my notebook, folder, planner, and a pen and set them in front of me.
Now I'm ready for the first day.
~*~
The good thing about my class schedule is I have an hour in-between all my classes. So I use that time to explore some more of the campus and figure out where everything is. After my freshman class with Samira, I had two more classes, college algebra and organic chemistry. The first day was not as bad as I thought it would be. I was able to get in the first row of the lectures so I wouldn't be looking over people and could see the board clearly. The professors seem like they are nice enough too. I guess with having large lecture classes it would take long to get to know all of the students so we only had brief introductions and looked over the syllabus before they let us leave.
I have one class left and it is one that I'm really looking forward to. Philosophy of Religion. It's a required class for freshman to take, but it sounds interesting to me because of how contradictory the class name is. Normally you wouldn't associate philosophy with religion because they are two distinctly different beliefs and thought processes. So I wonder how this class is going to work.
I make it to class 15 minutes early and again sit in the very front row. There's a few other students who have already arrived but no one in the first row besides me. This is one of the smallest lecture halls I've seen with there only being six rows of seats. I pull out my notebook that I designated specifically for this class and also pull out my bible. I haven't gotten it out since this morning before I left so I read a few pages and give myself a mental note to read more later this evening. I always have to read at least 2 chapters before I go to bed at night. "Reading this will make you smarter and wiser." My parents always told me and I believe that it's true. I haven't had any doubts or trouble when I read multiple times a day. Normally people at my high school made fun of me for bringing out my bible during our free times in class, but here, nobody seems to care. Or if they do, they don't say anything. I've noticed already that most people don't even pay attention to what you do. They only focus on themselves. Which I guess is the right thing to do since we're all here to better ourselves and get our careers we want.
More students file in as the minutes tick by and soon all of the seats are filled. I smile at a girl and boy who sit right next me but I keep to myself. While there are a few small conversations around, I keep reading and focus on the scripture until the professor walks in. He sets his papers and briefcase down before addressing the class. "Good afternoon everyone! My name is Professor Garrett and I will be your Philosophy of Religion professor for the fall 2016 semester."
He takes attendance and it's take a while to get through everyone's name but once that's done, he hands out the syllabus we will have to keep the entire semester. "Some of you may have questions as to why the title of the class is philosophy of religion."
"I know I do." I think to myself as some students mumble replies or shake their heads.
"The whole point of the class is to not pick which side is betterâphilosophy or religion. It's to inform you on both sides and then give you the opportunity to speak your mind and form your own beliefs on the world. We will have many discussions on the origins and creators of these two belief systems and what they exactly entail. You will form your own arguments to discuss with your classmates and learn how to defend both sides. This is not a class to say that some are wrong for believing in a particular religion. We will not ridicule or make others feels guilty for the way they believe. We are here to learn and have friendly discussions that may become controversial and heavy. Everyone has the right to speak freely without fear and all opinions will be welcomed." He clasps his hands together and smiles at the class. "Now lets get right into our first discussion shall we?"
"We'll start at the very beginning of it all. When life itself was formed. What do you know off the top of your head about the origins of religion and philosophy?"
I raise my hand first and feel all eyes on me. "Evangeline, right?" He asks and I nod. "What do you think?"
"It depends on what religion you are talking about. Every religion has a different creator. Some don't believe in god but believe in other things that created them. If we're also talking about mythology then it wasn't a physical creator at all that created the world, it was chaos and from chaos that made all of the world." I answer, remembering everything I learned back in school and church.
Mr. Garrett nods. "You're right in saying it depends on what way you look at things. See, everything and everyone has different ideas and interpretations for how things go. Philosophy does have a lot of inspiration from the Greeks and mythology. Some of our greatest philosophers believed in more than one god and higher power. So what draws the line between philosophy and religion? What makes them different?"
I raise my hand again before someone else can answer. "Philosophy is the ideas and principle behind a matter. Like science and logic-"
I go to speak again but another voice chimes in from behind me.
"So what does that make religion then? Isn't religion just ideas and principles to live by according to the person who created them?"
I don't turn around to see who was contradicting me but keep the discussion going. "No it's not the same thing. Religion is also based on feelings and faith. Philosophy can be based on facts and seeing if something really works like it's supposed to. Religion is about believing but not always seeing and philosophy is about believing once you see the logic."
"So what's the point of believing in something when you can't physically see it?" I wanna turn around and hit whoever it is for being rude but I keep my composure and back straight like my mother taught me. She'd always make sure I say up straight and when I didn't, she'd threaten to stick a ruler to my back.
Everyone else in the room is silent, taking in our discussion, or I think some are not paying any attention at all.
I swallow and place my hands on my knees, trying to get the words in my brain to form a correct comeback since I have never had to defend my religious beliefs before. "The point is that you have faith in something that you've never seen but have felt that it's the right thing to believe in."
"It's only right because your parents told you it's right." He remarks and I finally turn around to see who is arguing and I meet the dark brown pools that I saw this past week at the party. Tre.
I don't even have another remark to give back to him to defend my side. I'm too busy trying to pull myself back out from the deep pools.
"This is exactly what I'm talking about," Mr. Garrett interrupts and moves in front of the chalkboard. "A lot of times we believe what our parents or guardians do because that's the only thing we ever knew. Not that it's a bad thing, but since you all are in college now and are on your own, you'll have to start thinking for yourself and realize why you are the way you are. This class will prepare you for real world and life discussions where you will have to defend yourself and your beliefs." He turns to me and Tre. "Both of you brought up excellent points and these are the kinds of discussions that we will be having almost every class period. The last thing for today before I let you all go is I'm going be partnering you guys up for our semester long class project. I have chosen your partners so make sure you get in contact with them over this next week cause we will be starting the project soon."
He starts to list off the partners and I'm anxious to know who my partner will be. I hope it's not someone who I can't work with.
He finally gets to my name at the very end.
"Evangeline, you will be partners with Trevante."
"Who's Trevante?" I ask and he points behind me. I turn around and low and behold it is Tre. He smirks at me and I already want to hit him in his cocky face. I'm not a violent person but I'd love to smack off his ridiculous smirk that makes the butterflies in my stomach grow.
Great. I'm stuck with the boy who has enough cockiness to feed the entire world for the rest of the semester. Samira is going to have a field day when she finds out about this.