My POSC Teacher
The professor of my POSC 130 (Law, Politics and Public Policy) is Professor Alison Renteln. Although I haven't head other people's opinions of her, I think she is exceptional. She has an amazing grasp on the legal history of the United States Court system and presenting an interesting narrative of the evolution of many controversial topics. But that's not what I want to write about.
Last week, on Wednesday, her father died. He just collapsed in the middle of teaching a class at UC Berkeley. He teaches folklore and earlier this semester, as part of the 125th anniversary, he was invited to come and teach one of the lectures of my POSC class. Having never heard of the study of folklore before, I was absolutely enthralled. He was an exceptionally passionate person who seemed extremely healthy and clearly loved what he taught. Simply said, it was one of the most interesting classes I have attended.
But to think that, unexpectedly, he died just last week. Of course, Professor Renteln was gone Thursday morning and in discussion that afternoon, our TA told us. The news really shocked me...for some reason it hit me as something so totally unfair and painful. Warning of death, whether a sickness or a car accident, does so much to soften the blow. And here this man, so smart and so caring, died without any semblance of a reason.
Yesterday, as Professor Renteln returned to class, I couldn't begin to imagine how she could approach that day. How, after such an unexpected loss, she could simply return to her everyday life. She had to force aside her pain and just try to continue with life, pretending that she wasn't devastated. But you could see the pain...you could see it in her late arrival (the first time all semester), her long pauses, her distant thoughts.
On Monday, I read this other sad story about unexpected death. It made me cry.
Last week was a strange week. So much death. It makes me scared.
Last week, on Wednesday, her father died. He just collapsed in the middle of teaching a class at UC Berkeley. He teaches folklore and earlier this semester, as part of the 125th anniversary, he was invited to come and teach one of the lectures of my POSC class. Having never heard of the study of folklore before, I was absolutely enthralled. He was an exceptionally passionate person who seemed extremely healthy and clearly loved what he taught. Simply said, it was one of the most interesting classes I have attended.
But to think that, unexpectedly, he died just last week. Of course, Professor Renteln was gone Thursday morning and in discussion that afternoon, our TA told us. The news really shocked me...for some reason it hit me as something so totally unfair and painful. Warning of death, whether a sickness or a car accident, does so much to soften the blow. And here this man, so smart and so caring, died without any semblance of a reason.
Yesterday, as Professor Renteln returned to class, I couldn't begin to imagine how she could approach that day. How, after such an unexpected loss, she could simply return to her everyday life. She had to force aside her pain and just try to continue with life, pretending that she wasn't devastated. But you could see the pain...you could see it in her late arrival (the first time all semester), her long pauses, her distant thoughts.
On Monday, I read this other sad story about unexpected death. It made me cry.
Last week was a strange week. So much death. It makes me scared.
2 Comments:
Just to continue this tragic story of death, a kid from my highschool's mother died of cancer two days ago. (And of course the obvious ones, the Pope, Terri Schiavo and a few other famous people, who I don't know).
hi, i don't know you, but i was looking up stuff on dr. renteln. although it happened a while back, it was very depressing. dr. renteln used to be my advisor for a human rights club i had. she is absolutely phenomenal. we called her around the week that this happened, not knowing that her father had passed away. she told us that SHE was sorry for being inaccessable to us. that just goes to show what a incredibly selfless person dr. renteln is....how much she cares for her students, work, and passion for human rights.
i'm glad you had her class. i hope you had/have the opportunity to take her international law or human rights classes. she's amazing.
thank you.
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