In Michigan, already one can see the first, faint signs of the leaves turning. It’s the ides of August, to be sure, but it’s never too early to begin the march to winter in Michigan. And with the leaves and heat of the fields, the harvests, the abundant corn come the students. They are beginning to come back to campus with all the promise and hope they do each year. As a college professor, every year I say there will be no students with minds of the stature compared to those who graduated, and every year I am proved wrong. Stripling freshman blossom and mature – jejeune ideas come to have strength and elegance, to the point that the teachers themselves notice the sheer force of mind that a student comes to possess. I do not think there is another profession where one can quite watch the transition from boyhood to manhood (or the female equivalent) so markedly. But the despair at the beginning! 70% of the incoming freshmen have notable verbal handicaps: their style and speech so well adapted to contemporary culture that the rappers, rock stars, and newscasters have won the day. Elegance? I’d give much for a sentence that is grammatical. At this stage, it is almost – almost – too late to do any serious good to their writing and stylistic habits. After all, Coach X with his lockbox of clichés has more time with them than we do every day. Then the fraternities. This travesty of socialization has yet to graduate beyond the keg, the seventies’ night, and the transformation of generally modest men into boors and women into prostitutes without pay. But peer tutoring and charity work done with hangover absolves all. Religious groups thrive on our campus, thankfully, and the mix of Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox makes for some serious iron-sharpening and a bit of sheep-swapping. Behind closed dorm doors some students will labor away at Greek, Latin, Homer, or Dante. They won’t socialize too much; they won’t sign up for the 20 extracurriculars that constitute “making the most of your time at college”, i.e. dissipating your energies so you can do virtually nothing with staying power. He or she will slowly become a human being rather than a human doing. The professors like these ones the most, especially if they don’t come to office hours excessively. Ah, the mysteries of the world: as a former college athlete myself, fraternity member, youth group devotee who joined as many clubs as possible, it’s so much nicer now to be a professor! Hypocrisy, irony, or paradox: let the reader decide.
Nicodemus
This reader will go with "maturity" or "experience."
Before you know what you'd like to devote to, you try many different things. This is true in college, careers, relationships, and even faith (filling Pascal's vacuum with X or Y until one realizes what's supposed to be there.) The lie is the notion that dabbling equals making the most of something. It's almost the least of something. But it is better than trying nothing if you don't know what you'd like best.
College is, for many, the first exposure to all sorts of new ideas and activities. It is natural then, even if unfortunate, that people would scatter their time and energy. In some ways this might actually be helpful. If a future virtuoso in a certain field had never tried it--but instead dove into something they were not as gifted in or passionate about--the world would never benefit from their experience.
The problem arises when no decision is ever made. If the dabble goes on through graduation, then you are right, a great opportunity--a college education--is diminished, if not lost.
Posted by: Thomas More | August 21, 2006 at 06:20 PM