Jefferson, palladio, and the Fine Arts in America.

I was asked a number of times by friends and fellow students at SCAD why I would go to a symposium on my first weekend off. It really made me think....In fact the questions I received really bugged me because at the time I couldn't answer them. Why would you travel all that way? Why are you attending a school event at a school you don't even go to? Why would you want to set around with a bunch of old guys and hear them read about their research?
It wasn't for my health(I can think of better activities than sitting in one place all day), nor was it for my graduate school applications (again I can think of many better ways to build my resume)
It wasn't until after I went that I understood fully. I heard a wide range of papers from ones that focused on the University, to Palladio, and a wide range of topics in between. I saw presenters from younger than me to ancient(not that I consider that bad). I had questions in my mind and even got ideas for papers I personally want to write now. I got a better grasp on the 19th and 18th century, and still feel like there is soo much more I have to know.
If I had the opportunity to be asked those questions again I would have to answer with the following: symposiums-every one that I've ever been to have done nothing but inspired and motivated me, and though there are moments that I feel like I might fall asleep(like when discussing the complex styles of Thomas Jefferson's Chair collection)(if you're reading this I apologize), the overall feeling of love for the field and it's broad range of investigations makes it worth it. As I sit at my sister's tonight with a mind that is buzzing to research and do more...For both the understanding of the world, but more importantly to put my own mind at ease.