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James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To those interested who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
It turns out that when you get to honours, they let you do whatever you want. I arrived here the Sunday before last and since then have been given all the time to do whatever my heart desires. This, with the overarching instruction to strive for 10 hours of work per day. Freedom is great - all six hours of it.
The holidays were good. I managed to get a fair bit of reading done which was my primary objective. I also brushed up on my Greek in anticipation of a competency test to which I say, "veni vidi vici" - or in Greek "ἦλθον εἶδον ἐνίκησα". I, therefore, have had the rest of this time to do whatever I think will benefit me most. The dean of post-graduate studies said that we should aim for 50 hours of work per week which is ten hours a day or eight hours if we work on Saturdays - which is a fair bit when our work at this point could be described in as many ways as you can think of to mean "reading". We were told a little about what would be expected of us now that we are in post-graduate studies and though somewhat intimidated, I still have that sense of adventure when at the threshold of what I have now found to be a dragon's lair.
You may recall I have moved out of the GWC residence into a flat. Rather than sharing with dragons though, I have elected to board with one of the guys who graduated with me last year and is also doing honours. So far it has been good but it's still early days to be able to know how the year will go. Regarding food: If not cereals, I eat honours for breakfast, buy college lunch (and eat it, unlike proverbial cakes) and sort out supper using a crafty combination of bread, peanut butter and leftovers as well as the occasional slice of dragon meat.
Thus far, I can say that the year has been a delight. Should any dragons rear their heads, I will be sure to fight valiantly in the hopes of slaying them. Should the opportunity arise to steal the dragon's treasure, I hope to use my time with diligence and alacrity. Should the dragon turn out to be friendly, I'll say something nasty and fight him anyway just because we post-grads are the boss.
You can pray that I will not be like the honours students of the past who have been known to become akin to moles, appearing rarely in the sunlight and certainly not for very long, quickly returning to their books. It is my hope that I will study hard this year without neglecting the college community.
In Christ,
James Cuénod
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James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ
