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Spring
semester’s end provides time for reflection It seems finals have quickly come upon us once again. The years go by faster and faster the older I get. For freshmen, the end of the spring semester is a time to reflect on how you have changed as a person over the last nine months. Your new environment has no doubt changed your life in some way. Many of you have grown immensely as people and have learned to understand differences in the world. Hopefully, you have also at least begun to learn how your opinions fit in with these different viewpoints. Many of you also may have picked up bad habits and lost focus of the things that you once found important. It is not necessarily a bad thing to change your goals, but it can be bad if you lose track of what you really want because of negative influences. For juniors such as myself, along with sophomores, we can look back and see the great changes in our life over the last few years, yet we can also rest easy knowing our time is not quite up. For seniors, however, this is it. There is no more summer vacation for many of you. It is time to become part of this “real world” that you’ve heard mentioned around campus from time to time. Whether you are going back to your hometown for the summer, or becoming the newest member of the work force, try to keep in mind what you have learned in your time at TCU. After a year or more at TCU, you may have settled into the relaxed college environment in which prejudices are not nearly as pronounced as they are in the rest of the world. You have learned about many of the problems of the world while at TCU concerning the environment, race, gender or any of the other innumerable issues facing our world. But now is the time when you must apply what you have learned. Sure you didn’t like when your freshman composition teacher made you apply abstract concepts to the real world in your paper, but now is the time when you must. It is undoubtedly a privilege to attend an institution such as TCU, and you should keep in mind that a large majority of the population has not had such an opportunity. Certainly, you never signed anything that said you owe anything to the world because you get to attend a private university, but just take a minute to realize how truly lucky you are. TCU is not perfect, but it does give you the chance to learn your place in the world a little bit better. So
when you reflect on the past year or years, take something you learned
and use that knowledge to make a difference in the life of someone
who has not had the same opportunities as you. Jeff
Dennis is a junior sociology major from Gail. |
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TCU Daily Skiff © 2002 |
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