Class:
We briefly introduced ourselves in class, but let's elaborate here. Who are you, why are you taking this class, what kind of experiences with death have you had?
My mom died of renal cancer on 1 July 2011. She went to the hospital on Good Friday and never came home. My maternal grandmother died in September 2010. This past fall 2011, I lost two cats within two months. I hope that 2012 will be less sorrowful.
Hey,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Adam Saunders. I am a senior accounting major who is planning on graduating in May 2011. I am in this course like many of you to fulfill my core requirements. I am in this specific class because I don't have strong opinions for these subject matters and want to learn more. I recently lost a vest friend who I knew for more than 15 years and grew up with. I am interested in what people have to say and ready to form my own opinions.
My name is John Berberich and I am a senior biology major. I am taking this course in order to fill my final psychology requirement. I am a volunteer at Mercy Anderson Hospital, where I have worked in the emergency room, telemetry, orthopedic, and chronic illness wards, the last of which occasionally dealt with people who were going to die.
ReplyDeleteI have personally experienced death through the deaths of my great grandpa (eleven years ago) and great grandma (two years ago).
My Name is Matthew Scott and I am a senior Philosophy major and Psych/Theology minor. This course fills my requirement for my philosophy degree. I plan on graduating in the Spring and I really have no clue in which direction my life will head at that point. I have experienced death in my life of family members and of good friends. i had 2 friends that died in high school because of car accidents.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Jake Powers and I'm a junior history and philosophy double major. This course counts for my philosophy major. I'm in the History Club/History Honorary, Math & Physics Club, and Saints Club. I'm also the president of the Student Government Association.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather died last year, and my grandmother (his wife) is in a nursing home, has diabetes, and is in a wheelchair because both of her feet have been amputated (I think due to diabetes, but I'm not entirely sure). She'll probably die within a couple years. Also, one of my high school friends committed suicide right as senior year started (he had transferred to a school in Ohio, but our whole class was notified immediately).
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ReplyDeleteHi, My name is Brett Pierani and I am a junior accounting major. I live in Lawrenceburg Indiana and commute everyday. I am Treasurer of the Thomas more Accounting Society. I am taking this class because I thought it would be interesting and I need to have 150 credits so that I can take the CPA exam after college. In regards to experiences with death, my grandmother on my dad's side died from heart failure when I was a sophomore in high school. I have also lost 2 awesome pet dogs, 1 due to cancer, and one to old age.
ReplyDeleteHi, my name is Ryan Hamm and I am a junior secondary education - mathematics major. I am a member of the men's basketball team and the secretary for the Student Athletic Advisory Committee. In regards to this class, I have heard postive things about Dr. Cate and found the topic of the course interesting. I have lost one set of grandparents, one aunt, one uncle, and a cousin.
ReplyDeleteHi all! My name is Karlie Smith, and I am a sophomore here at Thomas More. I am a member of the James Graham Brown Honors Program at TMC, and am also the President of the French Club and a member of the Women's Golf Team. I am an Elementary and Middle School Education major--I love kids! I give guitar lessons, teach in the school system, coach cheerleading, and teach at church. I also sing in the Praise Band and lead Zumba-like, dance workout classes at Fairview Christian Church. One of my greatest passions is the country of Haiti, where I have traveled twice and will be returning to in July. Needless to say, I am one busy gal, but I wouldn't have it any other way!
ReplyDeleteBeing busy, I have found, helps both myself and my mother to stay above water in dealing with the death of my father, who died my freshman year of high school in a car accident. Though this wasn't my first encounter with death (I lost all of my grandparents before the age of 10), it has definitely been the toughest, as my dad was my biggest supporter and the best example and father that anyone could ask for. However, I don't believe that anything happens by chance. What are the odds that my mother would have me at the age of 44, so that I was still at home with her when my dad died so that we could work together to get through the most difficult time of our lives? God always has a plan. :)
Anyway... keeping busy has definitely been a coping strategy for me, however, I believe it is very important to face reality and explore your emotions, as well. I am taking this class, not only because it fulfills a core requirement, fits my schedule perfectly, and because I LOVE Dr. Cate (:D), but also to give myself a set time and opportunity to discover my emotions, remember my father, and bring to the forefront of my mind an aspect of life that is so relevant and real to me.
Hi, my name is Kelsey Sparks. I am a 2nd year chemistry and biology major with a focus in medicine. I am part of the chemistry, biology, and math/physics clubs on campus here. I work most days in the week at Remke Pharmacy in Florence as a technician there. When I am not working or at school, I am usually found volunteering at St. Elizabeth Hospital, the American Cancer Society, Susan G Komen, or Hoxworth Blood Center.
ReplyDeleteI chose this class because this is a unique class. The subject of death is not one that is normally talked about and so I am intrigued to learn more because this is also my first philosophy course. I have had only one personal experience with death and that was recently in November when my great-grandmother passed. I do inspire to one day become a practicing surgeon and so my future holds the possibility for me to encounter death through my work and so I feel as though this class will further my knowledge into this subject to help me better understand this mystery so I look forward to this class this semester!
Hi, my name is Ben Schieman. I am a graduate of Covington Catholic High School and am currently a sophomore at Thomas More with a double major in Business Administration and Accountancy. I am a member of the Accounting Society and I work in the Communications and Public Relations Department as a media relations intern. In addition, I'm a pharmacy technician at a local drug store where I fill and refill prescriptions and assist the store owners with pricing, inventory, and insurance audit completion.
ReplyDeleteWhile my direct reason for taking PHI205 was because it fulfills my core philosophy requirement and fit my schedule well, I indirectly chose to enroll because I think that death and dying is all too often ignored because of its touchy nature. My only real experience with death was with my grandma, so I hope I can use my retrospective experience as I venture to learn about death. By taking this class, I hope that I am able to gain maturity and knowledge in analyzing death and dying, as well as, to learn how to look at life in a different light. I'm looking forward to the spring semester!
Hi, my name is Emily and I am a sophomore biology major. I am the oldest of five children, so, it is pretty easy to keep myself busy. I love family time and would do anything for my parents, siblings, grandparents, or any other extended member of my family. We are extremely close to both sides, so, whenever there is a death, which happens more often than in other families seeing as out family is so huge, it is a hard pill to swallow. However, having a huge family means we always a big support system no matter what happens. I have always been a fan of kids and because of this I Evans a babysitter at age 10. I now have over 10 families and am a full time nanny to a 13 month old. I started watching Madi when she was just 10 weeks old so she has become part of my family. And to answer the ever persisting question, I took this class because it is a core requirement. However, I can say that I am interested in the topic and would like to learn more.
ReplyDeleteAs I said earlier, with a large family, I have had lots of experience with death. Some hit me harder than others. I'd have to say, though, that the hardest death I ever experienced was not of a family member. Instead, it was of a classmate. Chris was diagnosed with bone cancer in the fall of our fifth grade year. It happened by mistake. He broke his leg, and through x-rays, the cancer was found. After many chemo treatments, his leg had to be amputated. Between our seventh and eighth grade years, Chris lost his battle. That funeral was the hardest thing I ever had to attend! Besides Chris, I have attended the funeral of two uncles, an aunt, many great aunts and uncles, and multiple family friends. Death is never easy, but I did that with the help and support of my family and my faith, I can get through anything!
Hi, Im Kelsey. I am a chemistry and psychology double major. I have not had to much experiance with death other than the loss of pets which is in my opinion very hard to deal with. I know it is no comparison to loosing a family member but it is the only experiance I have thus far. I run track here and that keeps me pretty busy along with being an RA and in numerous other clubs and activities.
ReplyDeleteMy reason for taking death and dying aside from meeting the requirements is that I would like one day to work as a forensic scientist or even a forensic psychologist. This class will hopefully gain me some insight into death if I ever have to deal with it in my job which is rather likely.
Chello... I am Taylor Cornell, and I am taking this class because I am required to take a Philosophy to fulfill the necessary requirements. This course seemed to be the most interesting, and I had heard positive things about the professor. I am a junior, majoring in sports and entertainment marketing. I am very involved at my church Calvary Baptist in Latonia. I enjoy playing basketball, watching sports on tv, and playing video games. In August of 2004 my grandma was killed in a car accident, and my family then moved in with my grandpa to care for him. He then moved with us back to our house and lived with us for a couple of years. He suffered from dementia and other health issues, and died in January of 2007. I was very close to both of my grandparents, and those have been my two biggest and most diffucult experiences with death. The End.
ReplyDeleteHi, my name is Kendra Wessling. I am a junior biology major and I play soccer here at TMC. Between practice and my studies I don't have a lot of free time. I am taking this class in fulfillment of core requirements. However, I chose this philosophy class in particular because it sounded interesting. Fortunately, I do not have a great deal of experience with death. My grandpa as well as my great-grandma passed away when I was in the sixth grade and my great-uncle died during my senior year of high school.
ReplyDeleteHello all -
ReplyDeleteMy name is Jacquie Webb and I am a Junior here at TMC with a major in Communications and a minor in music. I am also taking this class as a core requirement. ^ Like Kendra, I wanted to pick a philosophy class that sounded interesting and would keep my attention.
I have had a decent amount of experience regarding death, unfortunatly. As a kid, I lost my great grandmother, which at the time I had no real connection to her and didnt quite understand. As I got older a couple more of my great grandparents passed. This time I was closer to them, one left a note to each of us in the family, as she knew she was dying. It was very heartbraking, something I will never forget. Today I still have 2 great grandmothers living.
However, my most recent experience with death is so tragic, that my family and I are having difficulty dealing with it. This past August my brother Austin Hagedorn, 17, was in a fatal boating accident on the Ohio River. He was on the boat with 20+ year olds who were drunk driving the boat. Austin was the only one who went missing, and they found his body the next morning. Its very, very hard to live with something that I would consider accidental murder. And now we are dealing with all the legal and court actions behind the accident. Every week my family goes to the cemetery to talk to Austin, as if he were still here.
Hello!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Joel Daley and I am a junior here at Thomas More College. I am a premed Biology major with a minor in Chemistry. I also run cross country and work at Lowe's. As I have mentioned in class I enjoy to play Call of Duty in my free time, even though there is not much of it during the semester. I have a bit of experience with death through my grandpa who dies of Alzheimers and my Grandma who had pancreatic cancer. I don't consider these to be extremely traumatic events because although it was sad, it was their time to go.
My name is Joe. I'm a sophomore and I major in Business and Economics with a minor in English. I took this class because it fit my schedule, filled requirements, I already knew some people in the class, so that was nice because it meant I wouldn't have to reach out and try to make new friends, and I already knew Dr. Cate. So with all those reasons, it kind of felt like Fate was telling me to take this class. I haven't had a lot of experience with death. Hopefully this class doesn't jinx that...
ReplyDeleteHello all,
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm late but my name is Marco and I am a junior Business Administration major with a concentration in Business Law. I work at Deps Fine Wines and Spirits in Covington, and enjoy a variety of activities on my time off. I have had experiences with death before, probably the most traumatic being two teachers I had in 3rd grade and freshman year of high school, one of whom was my football coach. They were so bad because they both died in car accidents, one of them on his way to school.