I am so grateful that I took not one, but TWO CHRTC (Christian Theology at St. Joe's) classes this Fall Term. I don't know if you guys know, but my plan is to finish my B.Ed with my Certificate to teaching Catholic Education. I feel that it will help me with applications and jobs, plus I really do want to teach in a Catholic school district. I took CHRTC 250 back in 2014, I finished both CHRTC xxx (which is my 103 Happiness class) and CHRTC 100 this term, finishing with one last class next term! It's P-R-etty exciting, let me tell ya.
If you're interested in that Catholic certificate, click here to find more information about it!
Okay, so CHRTC 103 is called Introduction to the Roads of Happiness. Ya, I see those eyerolls already, don't give me those. I remember I was late for this class on the very first day (yikes!) and it was a smaller class too, I think about 12 people in it? It is definitely a worthwhile and truthfully, one of the best/better classes I recommend to take at the University. Here are my top three favorite things about this course.
1. Okay, so the breakdown of the evaluation components is simple: 3 papers (which I did very well on, pat on the back for me is needed) and a participation/discussion mark. The three papers, I felt was more of a fair and authentic approach to appropriately assess our understanding about the course of happiness (which I will touch later on!). There was no final exam, instead it was a final paper (thank you thank you professor) which I felt was my strongest paper yet. *giving myself high-fives*
2. So my first favorite thing, if you haven't already guessed, is the assessment. It was pretty easy, as it should be for a 100-level course. My second favorite would have to be coming to lecture! Who knew that coming to lecture could be SO refreshing and helpful? (I did actually..). The style of the class was considered a "semi-flipped classroom" meaning we would have to do discussion forums before coming to lecture. That way we would be already somewhat familiar with the topics going to be addressed. The forum discussions were straightforward, reply to the question then reply to a classmate's post.
The lectures, didn't even feel like lectures, more "class discussions". Starting the second week people didn't even write things down (only if it was important for the papers). It was more of a "period where we shared our feelings and applications of the given content" kind of a class. Worked for me since I looooove to talk.
3. My last thing I want to highlight is the CONTENT! (Aka what we learned). Is it possible to walk away from a class a better, happier person?! Because each lecture I felt that. It wasn't weird, but it was refreshing to feel, almost like therapy.
Our textbook was amazing too, it's called The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky. I highly suggest you check this book out, it discusses myths about happiness and ways to cultivate happiness long-term, for example. It's a very quick read too, and who knew a book I would read for efferent purposes could also be used for aesthetic reasons. (That's my literacy vocabulary coming out... sorry).
Not only we explored key terms such as happiness, gratitude and love, but also saw the other side of the mirror by analyzing negative words like acedia, lust, depression and sadness. Our amazing professor used eye-opening videos and photographs to deepen our understanding. It was honestly, an overall amazing class. Take it.
Also, during the last class, each student took markers and wrote words that mean or relate to happiness. I won't post those pictures now, but I will soon. It's truly inspiring!
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