Prof Named Pat

Foe-hawk. Verticle and horizontal striped button-up shirt. Band t-shirt beneath. Olive colored courdoroys. This is my Comp Sci prof. Dresses like a man. Walks like a man. Talks like a man. But since when is a man named Rebecca?

My Comp Sci prof is of the female gender. I do not think she is a girl. It must be how programmers are bred. Male. No, not bred. I think it must be a graduation requirement. Male. I look around me and I see seventeen chicks in class and seventy-two guys. Male dominance. If I really wanted to I could give you a breakdown of ethnicity and my personal judgement of dorkiness to add to the statistics, but that is not my focus.

I wonder, how many of the seventeen chicks in class with me will continue with their Comp Sci training and end up being one of the guys? Judging by how they look, there are only a handful that have already decided to be Comp Sci majors.

I bring this up because I wonder if it is the person that defines a proffesion, or rather if it is the profession that defines a person.

I move to my next example. French 204. My TA happens to be a young (I would guess mid-twenties), attractive, France native. So atractive that I even caught myself checking her left ring-finger for a ring. There was not one. By the way, when she speaks English, she has an amazing accent. She dresses almost as a coastie. Each day she has her Uggs. She has her "fashioable" clothing. Topped off with costie makeup and hairstyle.
I would also like to add in a quick description of my prof from French 203H last semester, but only because it was a guy and this proffession seems to have multiple gender capabilities. My prof last semester was in his early-mid thirties. He had a body that appeared as though he tries to keep it in shape but age is starting to take its toll on him. He seemed really laid back in his teaching style. Lastly, he came off as a bit gay.

Quick review. Programmers tend to be male. Female French majors tend to be fashionable, young, cute, the works. Male French majors tend to be laid back and gay. Side note: the information I draw these conclusions from extends beyond the case studies seen here.

So I now question if the person makes the proffesion or if the profession makes the person.
If you ask me, the profession makes the person. There will always be exceptions, but this is the conclusion I have reached. All Comp Sci majors I know seem to have the same style. All Frech majors I know seem to have the same style. But this rule so far can only be applied to French and Comp Sci majors. All other areas I have studied I either do not have enough cases to compare or I have only had generic teachers teaching me the subject.

I now need to take a few more philosophy classes to decide whether or not this rule is universal. I need to see if all of them are boring and intriguing at the same time. I need to see if all Sociology majors inspire entire four hundred lecture sections to learn, or if it was just one.

Maybe someday I will know for sure. Maybe I will know from my own life. Maybe becoming a Journalism major will change me. Maybe I will see that it isn't that I am going to be changed, I have always been what I need to be for a Journalism major.