Welcome, Weekend!

Students on the California High School Summer Program today rose in anticipation of their last day of classes before the weekend!

In the morning, they resumed their discussions of Euclid. They proved, from first principles, the geometric side-angle-side theorem, showed how to bisect any given rectilinear angle or finite straight line, and discussed a proof for equilateral triangles also being equiangular. “It’s good to discuss it,” said Isabelle T. “There are so many opinions, and they help me to understand.” Challenging but very rewarding, the work left students feeling victorious after their morning class. “Once you understand math, it's fun,” shared Dom R.

Still enamored by yesterday’s hour of Adoration, programmers fed their souls further by assisting at the midday Mass. Contemplating the morning’s discussion, they then ate their fill of heirloom tomato pesto panini, fried potato wedges, Caesar salad with diced avocado, and marinated Greek olives at lunch. The sections next reunited to discuss Søren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling, or “Exordium and Eulogy on Abraham.”

In the work, Kierkegaard presents four vignettes from the story of Abraham, imagining how Abraham and Isaac might have felt, thought, and acted during the sacrifice of Isaac. The scenes give Abraham credit for marvelous faith, but also raise questions about whether that faith was unreasonable or even absurd. Having discussed the story of Abraham in Genesis on Thursday, students compared the two accounts, debating whether Fear and Trembling fails to depict accurately the patriarch’s deep faith.

When the conversation came to its end, students filed out of the classroom, not to return until Monday morning. Check out the Summer Program Blog tomorrow for a report on this afternoon’s long-awaited volleyball tournament, tonight’s “Music on Fairway,” and more!