What I have learned

I learned many things this semester, and I credit most of them to this class. Sighing up for this class I was definitely banking on getting by on last minute papers written off of some of my favorite movies containing mythology. Being the loyal Brad Pitt fan that I am, I was armed and ready with the Blu-Ray edition of Troy and recently pirated movies such as Wrath of the Gods, and Percy Jacksons the lightning thief. I mean honestly who would expect to learn anything from a class teaching Mythologies stories featuring the beloved serial killing rapist Zeus, or two best friends with the master plan of kidnapping Hades wife? To my surprise Dr.Sexson didn't require me to BS my way through some ridiculous paper chalk full of third grade facts about the Trojan War learned from Brad Pitt. Now looking back on the semester I realize Dr.Sexson won, he taught me more than any other class to date. Or more importantly he taught me things that actually applied to life; he gave me a few secrets on how to live to the fullest. In my defense though I technically didn't learn anything from Dr.Sexson...he just helped me remember some stuff. I like to think of him as the arch nemesis of Google, in the never ending battle of restoring this nations youths memories.

The main thing I took away from this class is how unimportant I am, and I am so very grateful for this. Society, coaches, my parents have always told me how special it is to play football, how I have an opportunity to change the world. But this is obviously not true, no one in their right mind really actually looks at an average football player and goes…wow he truly made a difference in the world. Throughout history we have observed those on a quest to be legendary, we can all recite the immortal stories that will never die. But what I did not realize until this class was that a legend is only a legend because of the story. No one actually cares about the legendary person, we just want the legendary story. Mythology has to do with community and family, it expands beyond the “legendary” individual whether we like it or not. It’s the greatest illusion in today’s world, the illusion of success. I’ve been lied to all my life about what success is, success is throwing a game winning touchdown, success is graduating with a great degree and high GPA. But no, success is not about any of those things, it’s not about the sports car my grandmother will buy me for retrieving her favorite sweater from Las Vegas. What you do with those achievements is what matters.

True success is looking outward from yourself and making a difference, no matter the size in someone else’s life. Success is spending time with little bobcat fans after practice and games. Or taking the time to read a book to a bunch of kindergartners who only care about how cool the jersey your wearing is. Success is realizing how unimportant you are and how important others are. So I guess in the end my parents and coaches weren't technically lying to me about being important, they were just being the successful people that they are. If Dr.Sexson can make a classroom full of hormone blinded, inward-looking college students realize how unimportant they are, and how important everyone else is I think it is safe to say that Dr.Sexson is pretty darn successful and we can all hope to one day have the success he has had.