The Rain Can’t Dampen Our Excitement!

Although Monday morning did not bring sunshine and birdsong, the smiles and excitement of students at the New England High School Summer Program were more than enough to light up Thomas Aquinas College! The programmers had good reason to smile: Having safely arrived and spent their first night on campus, they were ready to begin the program in earnest! After a hearty breakfast, the students made their way to Dolben Auditorium once more for some words from program director and tutor Dr. Josef Froula.

Thomas Aquinas College believes that the principal teachers of the Great Books are the authors themselves. It is their wisdom that the students will directly encounter, and their words the students will absorb. “Don’t go into the reading with any expectations,” Dr. Froula advised. “Let the book strike you as you read it.” He also encouraged students to work with, not against, each other in the classroom. “The goal is courtesy and cooperation, not debate or competition,” he said, explaining that the point is not to “be right,” but to arrive at truth with your fellow students.

Prepared by Dr. Froula’s advice, the students plunged right into their first class, a discussion of the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex. As the rain faded outside the classrooms, the conversations increased inside them — and did not end even when the classes did! Students discussed fate and free will over lunch, continuing to ruminate on the first question their tutors posed: Was Oedipus pitiable? Programmers exchanged viewpoints over fries and chicken, with many agreeing that Oedipus deserved pity, though some argued that his temper brought about his punishment.

Before they knew it, lunch was over, and the students were on their way to the second class of the day. This time around, they discussed Plato’s Euthyphro, a dialogue that wrestles with the virtue of piety. What makes an action pious? Do the gods love what is intrinsically pious, or is something pious because it is loved by the gods? The students walked alongside the puzzled Euthyphro as they, too, grappled with the difficulties Socrates raises. 

While classes come to a close in the afternoon, the excitement won’t stop! Remember to check out the Summer Program Blog tomorrow morning for pictures and updates from the rest of the day’s activities! You can also get updates by following Thomas Aquinas College on Facebook and Twitter.