As the Semester Draws to a Close...
Since I haven't updated this journal in a long time I figured I would take some time out to reflect upon my first semester at Michigan State. As my classes are finishing up I get this bittersweet feeling. It's a feeling where you are happy that the classes are going to be done but you are also disappointed because you won't see many of your in-class friends and your instructors ever again. I guess this is one of the drawbacks of going to a huge university, but I had this same feeling when I was at Western and at Delta too. It's just weird because you have had class with all these people, you have seen them 3 days a week and even if you weren't best friends with them you developed an acquaintance type friendship with them. And now that the semester is over, you won't see those familiar faces every couple days like you have for the last 15 weeks.
My ISS professor (social science prof) was talking about this. He told us to look around the room and notice all of the familiar faces and then realize that after this week, you guys will never all be in the same place at the same time ever again. It's just weird to think of all the people that you encounter in life and to realize that the majority of those people you will never see again. This professor sent out an email to the class bidding farewell and in it he said:
"Very large class size did not give me an opportunity to know most of you personally but I will remember your aspiring and smiling faces for a long time. But eventually your pictures will fade into memories. These are the realities of life."
So, I will certainly miss the feeling of camaraderie that we developed in each of my classes but I know that in each of my classes next semester those same friendly relationships will develop.
My professor also wrote the following:
"Remember you are one of the very privileged ones around the globe. And you can always make a difference in the life of others"
I think this is the most important lesson that I learned this semester. Forget about the calculus and history of Latin America and the supply and demand curves in economics. The most important things you learn in college are the life's lessons.
Sometimes we take our education and our chance to go to college for granted. In reality we are so lucky that we had the chance, the opportunity, the education, the money, the family support that we needed to get this far.
This semester I participated in a service learning program in a first grade classroom in the Lansing school district. Previous to this I had never worked in an inner city school. My experiences in this classroom were eye-opening. All of these kids come from working class families, many of them come from single-parent homes, and the reality is that their life chances are not the same as yours or mine. But this is the cycle of poverty in the U.S. The fact is that most of these kids will never grow up to be a doctor or lawyer. They will be working for minimum wage at Walmart or something like that. Many of them will never even think of going to college. And to think that for all of us middle class sub-urban kids going to college was nothing short of a requirement.
These are the important things I learned this semester-life lessons that I can take with me the rest of my life in hopes that maybe someday I will be able to make a difference in the world.
So, this Christmas season we all need to remember how fortunate we are.
As for the rest of the semester, it went very well. It’s hard to believe that it was a year ago when I left Western, but I am so glad that I chose to come to Michigan State. My experiences here, so far, have been great.
In closing I wish all of you the best of luck as your semester comes to an end. I look forward to going home and spending time with family and friends and to get a break from school.
See you all back in the NASTY !
My ISS professor (social science prof) was talking about this. He told us to look around the room and notice all of the familiar faces and then realize that after this week, you guys will never all be in the same place at the same time ever again. It's just weird to think of all the people that you encounter in life and to realize that the majority of those people you will never see again. This professor sent out an email to the class bidding farewell and in it he said:
"Very large class size did not give me an opportunity to know most of you personally but I will remember your aspiring and smiling faces for a long time. But eventually your pictures will fade into memories. These are the realities of life."
So, I will certainly miss the feeling of camaraderie that we developed in each of my classes but I know that in each of my classes next semester those same friendly relationships will develop.
My professor also wrote the following:
"Remember you are one of the very privileged ones around the globe. And you can always make a difference in the life of others"
I think this is the most important lesson that I learned this semester. Forget about the calculus and history of Latin America and the supply and demand curves in economics. The most important things you learn in college are the life's lessons.
Sometimes we take our education and our chance to go to college for granted. In reality we are so lucky that we had the chance, the opportunity, the education, the money, the family support that we needed to get this far.
This semester I participated in a service learning program in a first grade classroom in the Lansing school district. Previous to this I had never worked in an inner city school. My experiences in this classroom were eye-opening. All of these kids come from working class families, many of them come from single-parent homes, and the reality is that their life chances are not the same as yours or mine. But this is the cycle of poverty in the U.S. The fact is that most of these kids will never grow up to be a doctor or lawyer. They will be working for minimum wage at Walmart or something like that. Many of them will never even think of going to college. And to think that for all of us middle class sub-urban kids going to college was nothing short of a requirement.
These are the important things I learned this semester-life lessons that I can take with me the rest of my life in hopes that maybe someday I will be able to make a difference in the world.
So, this Christmas season we all need to remember how fortunate we are.
As for the rest of the semester, it went very well. It’s hard to believe that it was a year ago when I left Western, but I am so glad that I chose to come to Michigan State. My experiences here, so far, have been great.
In closing I wish all of you the best of luck as your semester comes to an end. I look forward to going home and spending time with family and friends and to get a break from school.
See you all back in the NASTY !