Back to School

So, it's back to school again after having a good month and a half off! And, you know, it feels really good to be back. I forget how much I really enjoy being in school. I can tell that my classes will be tough. In fact, my public speaking professor flat out told us today that "it is hard to get an A in this class" (a sarcastic "woo-hoo" at this). Well, as much as they might be tough and a bit of a heavy load, I'm up for it! Here we go, my final semester at Grossmont College! Yes!

***

One of my prep for major classes that I have to take this semester is mythology. The nerd that I am, I was pretty darn excited for it, I must say. I mean Lord of the Rings is full of allusions to mythology (as well as any other creative fiction out there, really). I'm thinking griffins, centaurs, and minotaurs... giants, elves, and dwarves... you know, cool fantasy-type characters. Ok, so yes, those are parts of mythology that I'm hoping we'll get to, but for now we've begun the semester with "The Creation Myth." Now, this chapter involves comparing different cultures'/religions' "myths" on creation. I have to say, I'm actually pretty interested in those of different cultures/religions. I've been able to compare many of the stories to Creation in the Bible, which is fascinating to me. However, I'm not particularly thrilled with the aspect of this chapter that calls the Gospel of John a myth (sub-heading literally reads "The Gospel of John Myth"). More on this once I actually read the rest of it. I admit I stopped towards this point out of some annoyance.

Well, our first assignment in that class was to do some research on the "myth" behind our first and last names (i.e. history, origin, etc.). This is what I discovered about my name:

MARTIN

Could be taken from the Latin name Martinus,

which is derived from Mars, the Roman god of fertility and war.

or

Could be taken from the Gaelic mor meaning great

and duin meaning a man (Morduin was a chief and warrior).

and

The name Martin became popular among Protestants

after the protestant reformer Martin Luther.

JENNA

From its Arabic origin it means "heaven."

or

It could be a variant of the Hebrew name Jean,

meaning "God's grace" or "Yahweh is gracious."

or

It could be a variant of the Cornish/English name Guinevere,

meaning "white, fair, or blessed."

and

It's African-Mende meanning is literally "small bird."

I thought it was pretty interesting!