Last Tuesday I took my 20 year old daughter with me back to visit my college alma mater. I hadn't been back on campus for 30 years. I was not prepared for my reaction. All of the professors that I would have known have either retired or passed away. I hadn't thought about that until after I arrived. For some reason I thought time had stood still, and the same people would be there. A fellow alumni is an engineering professor, one of the few people I knew on campus. I hadn't seen him in person for 30 or so years either, but we had recently connected via Facebook. Most of the buildings were the same, but things had changed around them. A major re-routing of a highway, new walkways, upgrades and internal changes. I knew my way around somewhat. But someone else was living n my old dorm room and the house I lived in my senior year, was torn down years ago. Other people were in my world.
We had lunch in the dining room where I could see myself 30 years ago in these kid's eyes. Life has continued here, students and faculty eating meals here for the past 30 years, every 4 years a new group of students. This was their time. I had my time here. I never wanted to be that guy that "never left" after he graduated. The guy who was always hung around and kept coming back to campus. I looked around at lunch and saw the couple sitting off to one side, and I wanted to walk up to them and say "you know you probably won't be getting married like you think, because she's going to marry that guy over there." And to the group of guys acting goofy over on the other side, "you need to grow up before you get a girlfriend."
And I wanted to stand up on the tables and tell all of them, "All of this stuff that seems so important to you now, its not going to mean anything 5 years from now and it will mean even less 20 and 30 years from now." I guess I have the advantage of hindsight. Looking back, I would of course do some things differently. I was trying to understand what I was feeling, was it jealousy? My own mortality? Or just feeling intimidated? Why were all of these feelings coming up now? Maybe it's a yearning to return to academics. A return to learning, where your biggest problem is what to have for lunch. A lot of fun times, a lot of work, and growing up happened here for me.This place has continued to educate students and I spent 4 years of my own life here. I arrived a teenager, and left a young adult.
I used to walk across campus and wave to people and people knew me too. Now, no one knows me here, and I know no one. Life has gone on here. I have to get back to reality, I have hopefully matured in the process. Growing up can be a harsh reality. Everyone on campus was nice, polite, smiling, and courteous. I wanted to tell them the world is not that way. There are rude, obnoxious, and vulgar people out there in this world. And after you graduate, you will experience them, in your bosses, fellow coworkers, or at the grocery store. I wanted to tell them to enjoy their time here. Savor the moments, keep the friendships, make memories, take pictures. Be a full time student, this is your job right now. Remember your time here, and 30 years later, you will come back and tell all this to the next generation.
- T. Meiers
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