Author: Elizabeth Cutler
As May 17th grows nearer and nearer, I can’t help but reflect on my four years at Oxy and put some thoughts to paper. I’ve tried to avoid the platitudes that typically fill a piece like this while still sharing what I think is important. Humor me.
Allow yourself academic flexibility. Take the class in the department that intrigues you, especially if it is unfamiliar territory. Learn from a well-known professor on campus even if he/she is not in your area of focus. For most of us, college will be our last chance to learn a new language or spend a semester entirely on one author and it would be disappointing to let self-imposed academic stringency get in the way of that.
If no class exists on something that interests you (or you can’t bear to leave it at that final research paper or project), make it happen anyway. Pursue an independent study with your favorite professor or perhaps an internship for credit. Yes, the coils of proverbial red tape that plague Oxy are annoying, but students can figure out ways to cut them. On a related note, stay on Glenda Epps’s good side. You won’t be sorry.
Take advantage of the resources that secretly enrich an Oxy education. We have so many support systems at our disposal and it is easy to let things go. Take your papers to the CAE, explore potential careers at the CDC, get homework help from AMP tutors, explore activities through OSL, and always enjoy sandwiches and conversation with Kathy in the MP. Also, maybe make a list of Oxy acronyms to keep everything clear.
Speaking of opportunities available right on our campus, it is almost a cliché how programmed our campus can be, from awareness weeks and lecture series to film screenings and workshops. If there is one thing I regret most about my four years at Oxy, it is that I did not attend enough of these events. Crossed-out mentions of documentaries in Johnson 200 and references to public service panels dot my old planners; so many times I didn’t attend, thinking that I couldn’t spare the time or energy.
The thing is, more reading, more papers, more tests, and more meetings always remain. Your chance to see a great speaker or develop skills in a certain workshop only comes every so often, but the library will still be open afterwards. Maintain a balance and learn what works for you but, at the risk of sounding like another cliché, please listen to Mark Twain and do not let your schooling interfere with your education.
That said, I do think that awareness of another issue needs to happen-awareness of life outside the Oxy “bubble,” that we are not the only group of bright, young liberal arts college students waiting with latent passion to change the world. Yes, we spend a great deal of time and effort educating ourselves and others about the environment and world hunger, but are we really ready to hold steady jobs and be conscious citizens in the non-Oxy world after graduation? I’m not convinced.
We spend a great deal of time enveloped in a supportive Oxy embrace when we should be learning how to be competitive players in a world without common rooms or formal advisors. Life does not come with a meal plan and we should be just as ready for that as we are to debate the relevance of Tocqueville or the impact of Foucault.
The Class of 2009 came to Oxy during a tumultuous time of change with a dissolved ASOC, the first of two presidential searches, and a memorable convocation characterized by a professor telling us that the administration represents “monsters under our beds.” As we prepare to finish our undergraduate careers, it would be easy to brush away these memories in favor of sunnier stories-but that would not be true to the nature of the Occidental College student body.
Continue to disagree, debate, and discuss. Bring up issues that bother you, no matter how insignificant they may seem. Make your college experience valuable and make your school what you want it to be.Before he became one of my most trusted advisors, Professor Caldwell baffled me with a comment on an exam: “You seem to have climbed the tree, but missed the forest.”
As you navigate the world of college and all that it entails-majors, minors, requirements, friendships, study abroad, planning for the future-do not forget to maintain a broader perspective. Forge connections with students, faculty, and staff that go beyond assignments, parties, or jobs. Take photos of everything, not just the special occasions, because one day it will be your last Marketplace lunch or late-night Cooler latté. Pursue positions of leadership even if you afraid you will not win-the experience will, at the very least, make you stronger for it.I have heard so many students lament that they cannot wait to be done with college because then their “lives will start.” Guess what? Our lives already started. Don’t miss the forest.
Oh, and listen to your parents.
Elizabeth Culter is a senior Politics major. She can be reached at eculter@oxy.edu
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