Symbolism & Innocence

The Beginning

Harry's P.O.V

My hand dragged against the white board as the room was filled with chatter; I could feel the buzz of the room seeping in through my veins as my excitement only grew.

I coughed lightly and stepped away from the board, letting the class see the topic I had decided to discuss today.

The Beginning

It was short and sweet, I knew my students had to learn where of the matter came from and I knew they would understand it a bit better once I explained its history.

I cleared my throat and waited for the few rogue students that were still chatting along with their friends, but that soon stopped as the room grew eerily quiet.

"Well," I said, "if you have quiet finished with your conversations I would like to start with today's lecture. If you don't mind that is." I stood silent for a few more seconds and clapped my hands together, smiling at the students before me.

"Now I know the title is a bit simple and honestly that's what I'm hoping for." I began to walk around the room and tried to remember the faces of my students as I continued to speak. "Some people took this course because they genuinely enjoy it, others not so much. So, it's my job as your professor to make this as simple and as easy to comprehend as possible." I chuckled a bit as there were multiple sighs of relief filling the silent room.

I waved my hands around me as I spoke, "I mean come on guys I don't want to have to fail any of you, so why not make things easier on both of us? I mean I was in UNI as of last fall and I hated it if I am being quite honest with you, but I did what I had to do." I sighed as I went to turn on the projector and asked one of my students to turn down the lights.

"So making this easier on you guys I'm going to explain the history of it. I know, I know it's going to be a bit boring, but as soon as we end with this then we should begin the fun shit guys." I beamed at the group in the front who giggled at my use of profanity.

"So let's get into it." I walked over to my desk and lent over my laptop to reach the remote for the screen, powering everything up and pulling up my power point.

"You can take notes if you'd like, or not. If you'd like a copy of the slide you can come and talk to me after class, request the drive and I will forward it to you via email. Now any questions before we start?" I smiled once again at the silent room and clicked play on my slides.

Clearing my throat I began to speak, making sure I was loud enough for the whole room to hear.
"Now as we know -or at least I hope you know- is that Psychology is the study of mind and behavior. With that being said, while psychological knowledge is often applied to the assessment and treatment of mental health problems, it is also directed towards understanding and solving problems in several spheres of human activity. By many accounts psychology ultimately aims to benefit society." I looked over the desks of students once more making sure no hands were up before I continued.

"The majority of psychologists are involved in some kind of therapeutic role, practicing in clinical, counseling, or school settings. Yada yada yada." I skipped over a few slides seeing as they weren't as important as the others.

"The word psychology derives from Greek roots meaning study of the psyche, or soul. The Latin word psychologia was first used by the Croatian humanist and Latinist Marko Marulić in his book, Psichiologia de ratione animae humanae in the late 15th century or early 16th century. The earliest known reference to the word psychology in English was by Steven Blankaart in 1694 in The Physical Dictionary which refers to 'Anatomy, which treats the Body, and Psychology, which treats of the Soul'. Sorry about the Latin reference by the way."