Published: Thursday, December 9, 2010
I told the girl that I could show it to her. So after class was concluded, and it was only me and my female classmates in the room, I unwrapped my scarf to reveal my hair. Apparently, they were all wondering about it but never worked up the courage to ask for fear that they would offend me. Little did they know that I had been waiting for them to ask, but never had the courage to discuss the matter without being asked. This incident was one of the most memorable experiences of my undergraduate years.
I am now writing my last column as an undergraduate. It is with great pride and pleasure that I call myself a graduate of the University of Toledo. I am deeply grateful to every person who had even the smallest hand in my being where I am now.
Over the course of three years, I have been lucky enough to sit in those cozy, warm classes of our campus. I enjoyed the lectures of some of the world’s greatest professors, some of which I believe spent a long time before every class period jotting down the most difficult, complex words in the English dictionary with which to baffle us poor students.
There were professors who did not do the job exactly the way I wanted them to, but when I forced my brain to listen to what they were saying, it was not too bad. Every professor, like us students, has her or his story and if you give them the chance to tell it, there is much to learn. In the process, you will have made a new friend who has years of knowledge over you — not to mention getting an A in the course!
I have noticed that many students create a wall between themselves and the professors, and I’m glad I was not one of those students. Take it from me: never keep a distance between you and your professor. They really are there because they care. They want to give you a piece of their brain and they want you to succeed, not only in their class but in life, too. I won’t say “real life” because I’m pretty sure we all know college life isn’t a dream.
Professors are just the tip of this university’s beauty; classmates are a whole other story that you shouldn’t miss out on. The students at UT are people of great intellect and integrity; don’t let them escape you! Talk to the person sitting beside you in class. They really won’t bite — trust me, I’ve tried!
While most people are too afraid to say the first word in a conversation with a stranger, all people welcome the interaction gesture. Classes get boring, and even if you’ve become buddies with your professor, you will still need to know the person sitting beside you in case you get stuck in a pile of snow and really need to know about the assignment you missed. Rest assured that other people need you and want to get to know you as much as you want to get to know them.
I would like to end my years of undergrad with special thanks to a few people. Thank you, my dear energetic professor, for being so enthusiastic and excited about teaching that you made me feel like an 80-year-old in the body of a 20-year-old. Thank you, smart classmate sitting at the front of the class, for always answering every question the professor asks, correcting her notes and making me feel mentally challenged and in need of therapy.
Thank you, creepy person sitting at the back of the class, for never speaking a word while you stared at me in a way that expressed either extreme fascination or utter detest. Even you, girl who sat beside me and silently copied my notes without ever saying a word of thanks, you have taught me to start sitting all alone at the back of class.
My dear fellow classmates: college life is what you make out of it. Don’t let it stop at learning the alpha signs and exploring the reason behind female oppression in our world; take it to a more personal, social level. Speak to the person next to you — even if that means they start copying your notes.
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