Disclaimer:This is not my ode to college. Read it as if the speech you would say at your mother's 50th birthday. It's not like shes dead, but you still talk of her greatness with hopes of her longevity. But if it were the last words she heard, you would want them to hold power. Its the 3-month birthday of my last day of class. As I read the statuses of frustrated students, prepared to be unprepared for finals - I ponder. My active student life has passed but not passed on. My college years have left but left me with everything. Setting aside all of the bureaucracy attached with universities and colleges, at the root and the crux is the student experience. (The swagger of a college kid is still in me as I just used my pocket dictionary to check on the spelling of bureaucracy. I use my pocket thesaurus to check on the meaning of everything else but I'll write about that later). Being a student becomes a lifestyle, sooner than later for some. (For me, later than sooner). It is so easy to embrace once you've discovered it, like a really creamy piece of strawberry cheesecake. Like a man, you fall in love with the difficulty of it all. The feeling of doing your absolute most, becomes difficult to ignore like a stray hair in the face. Enough with the comparisons because college deserves to be defined as and in of itself. When the chaos turns into sweet victory, the reward will last 3months and beyond. I'm writing this piece to set the mood. With this passion for education and support for structured learning, I write about the stain college has left on my mind/self/heart. College is not for everyone, but everyone deserves college. "Maybe you are the next Lil’ Wayne, but probably not, in which case you need to stay in school", said President Obama to the revolting youth. Why be Lil' Wayne when you can be Written and Reported by Wayne (ha! writes the bias journalist). College, for however many years you choose to study with whichever major you choose to explore, can bring someone a glowing nuance....if you let it. If you loosen the grip on control, and take a rest lean on the column of understanding. Like I wrote before this is not my "Dear College" letter, its more like a "Hey What's Up College" post-it on the cover of my "After College" Book.
I never realized how much college was a rock and re-enforcer to me, until I walked out. I have yet to frame my diploma but it rests solo on my head board. Under shiny plastic that seems to call my name every time I leave the room. My story is like so many others that had an intense four year relationship with their academics. I left with so much more than I came in with. Post-grad life is filled with moments and revelations that act as a constant reminder of the past four years. The most simple of conversations bring the student out of me. I give so much credit to school, and after a point I feel like saying "I just want to credit my professor for that comment". If a stenographer recorded my conversations, I'd have to make sure that I added my own footnotes and bibliography. Yes, it is that serious. Finding myself as a feminist is a blog for a different blogosphere, but I know that I stand on concrete ground and college gave me that. It try to imagine what I would be like and what it would be like to be around me, had I not went to school. I know enough to know that I don't know anything at all, and I'm content with that. Because the student and the fighter share the same mind. Regardless of how far I go, I'll always footnote my college years- it completes the story.
"When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes" - Erasmus
