We have come to visit our oldest daughter, who is a junior at St. John’s College in Annapolis.  We’ve enjoyed staying in her house and meeting her friends. She is certainly thriving here!

We came to hear her solo flute accompany the campus production of Bach’s Magnificat, and were heart-warmed by the earnest, wholesome occasion. The standing-room-only audience showed their support and appreciation by thundering with applause during a prolonged standing ovation!  The first photos below (of her in black concert dress) are from that occasion, along with friends and the orchestra director. 

We also had the privilege of attending four of her classes: a seminar on Adam Smith, a lab class on Maxwell’s equations for electromagnetism (including her explaining at the board), a French class translating and discussing Jean-Paul Sartre, and a math class discussing number theory.  Below are some photos.

My husband came up with a wonderful analogy for the essence of this type of rigorous, discussion based education, in which all the students read the 100 Great Books.  It is like the underpaintings that I have described here on my blog that make paintings so successful.  With this broad and deep exposure to the best thinkers throughout time, these kids are then equipped to paint any masterpiece on top, and will use it as a solid foundation to go on and do all sorts of things!