| My Friday the 13th |
[Feb. 15th, 2009|02:01 am] |
| [ | Feeling... |
| |  accomplished | ] |
| [ | The music in my mind... |
| | Metallica - Broken, Beat & Scarred | ] |
Hoping things wouldn't go wrong on Friday the 13th, I spent the whole day preparing for Ma'am Cara's Advanced Personality class. It was the day of my lecture on the biological perspective of personality and I was nervous all day long. Sure, I had already done the report a semester ago, but this was definitely something new. It was a new class with new personalities and I was going it alone, without Mondy to be the butt end of all my jokes (hehehe). Furthermore, everything they are to know about the biological perspective, they'd get from me (since Ma'am Cara wouldn't be lecturing on it anymore). Fucking up was not an option.
I read, reread, and got sick reading all the articles, praying I wouldn't fuck up a lecture for graduate students. I saw it as a good opportunity to not only make a name for myself in the annals of the graduate program, but also as a way to prove I actually had the ability to teach (not to mention great practice). Who knows, Ma'am Cara might put in a good word for me in the Psych Dept.
As Ma'am introduced me for the report, the pressure mounted. Introducing me as her assistant, she mentioned that the report Mondy and I gave last semester was the best; thus, the repeat performance.
The lecture itself started out a bit shaky seeing as I had to orient them in some pretty technical stuff. I had to explain the neuron and its different parts, how information moves through the body by way of neurons and synapses, and what neurotransmitters were. I also included a slide on the brain and some of its functions. I tried to be as basic as possible, only focusing on what they needed to know to help them understand the journal articles I'd be reporting. Interesting as I tried to make it, the audience, er...class, was cold. Blank stares met my enthusiasm as I quickly went through the basics.
Things started to warm up, however, when I got to the articles. The first article was about the biological correlates of sensation-seeking, meaning the biological bases for thrill-seekers. Yes indeed, being too chicken to go on thrill-rides like roller coasters can be explained by internal, biological characteristics. According to the article, it has little to do with what we've learned from society or any childhood experiences. It's all about the biology of the human body and how it reacts, physiologically, to different stimuli.
The second article was much simpler, talking about the localization of emotions in the brain. Basically, those whose left-frontal area of the brain is more easily aroused generally express more positive emotions. Negative emotions are more greatly associated with the right-frontal area. Take note that this doesn't depend on the size of the brain part rather which brain part is aroused more. The audience was more responsive to this article and reacted more. I'd jokingly say, "If you want your kids to cry less, lobotomize the right-front part of his brain! A hammer and nail will do."
The last article, and by far the most interesting, talked about differences in mating tactics between men and women and how evolution has affected these tactics. Findings of the study: (1) Tactics used are determined by what the opposite sex wants. (2)Men seek to "maximize copulatory opportunities" (bring on de zex!) while women hold back for the best mate. (3) Men use display of wealth and resources more than women because this is what women look for. (4) Women use making themselves more visually attractive because men look for signs that the female is "ripe" for reproduction. (5) Finally, the most employed, and most effective, tactic is not exclusive to any sex, that is, having a good sense of humor! By this time, the class was reacting very well. They'd laugh at my little jokes like, when talking about "maximizing copulatory opportunities," I said, "For men, the oath is, 'Tall, short, fat, or thin, we are sworn to put it in!'" They'd express surprise and awe at clams the study makes such as if women play coy and hard to get, they become more desirable. "So, kung panget ka," I said, "play hard to get para magustuhan ka!" Laughter. It was wonderful.
From time to time, Ma'am would comment, "See? No one could do this but Kenny. Imagine me saying that! I couldn't!" It felt really good, and the reactions from the class only made it better. It's difficult to really put into words, but imagine how you'd feel doing something you love and being praised for it by people whom you respect. It's not that hard to imagine.
After class, I was met with much praise from Ma'am students, but the cherry on top was when Ma'am Cara said, "You'll probably be doing this every sem, assuming you don't have class at that time."
☺☻☺
Me happy. Too much to put into words.
~♣~
Out of the frying pan and into the fire, something was bound to happen on Friday the 13th. Apags asked me to co-host with him at an event at Mag:Net in Bonifacio High Street and I, reluctantly, agreed. So right after class, Apags, Al, and I went over to Makati to the event. We basically just had to introduce bands and keep the audience interested while the bands were setting up. Nothing too big, but then again, I've never really hosted anything before, so I left much of the work to Apags and Al - Al being a professional host.
The hosting was nothing short of a train wreck in my opinion. We just made fools of ourselves for a cold audience. We settled for the smallest reactions and tried to work off that energy, but we were really dying up there. It was kinda sad.
The event itself wasn't a total loss. Sure, most of the bands totally sucked balls, but Up Dharma Down was great. Their singer is damn HOT! Also, the place was swarming with hot chicks. I got a couple of smiles and that was enough to keep me going.
But the true highlight of the night, at least for me, was the last band, To Kill A God. My brother had told me that Lex, his friend, was part of a new band called To Kill A God, so seeing it on the list got me curious, but I wasn't sure if it was the same band. When Lex walked into the place, I was sure. Being an acquaintance, I greeted him, saying I was looking forward to their set. I knew it was gonna be metal. I knew I was gonna love it. Needless to say, it was the best band all night. It was heavy, technically sound, and I couldn't help but headbang to the sheer force of the music. I sat in front at the request of Lex and held his glasses while he brought the house down with his beautiful vampire-red guitar. The music was so heavy and so loud that I was left partially deaf afterward. No joke. It was awesome! \m/\m/
The event was a good end to a potentially stressful day and a really tough week. What better way to end a tough week than with METAL!? |
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