Who are you?

After talking to a couple of students recently, I'm reminded of something I had forgotten - a lot of students don't really know who they are or where they're going. So, a lot of you haven't declared a major, and many more of you are likely to change your major. That's ok. The whole point of college is to find out who you are and how to get there. That's one of the reasons behind the SDV class that you're required to take. As a part of the class, you complete the Career Assignment to help you select a major. You get advised on what classes to take for that major. And, you even go through some activities to figure out what type of learner you are or what type of personality you have. But, there's a lot more to who you are than just what you can get in one short class. Everyone should have at least a basic idea of what's important to them and some sort of moral code. It's important to take some time and think about things like this - ponder, ponder, ponder. After all, how can you figure out where you're going if you don't even know who you are?

Well, after some serious soul-searching of my own this past weekend and thirty-something odd years of trials and experiences, I think I've finally figured out some things of my own. I've come up with a list of "rules" for myself. Now, you can take them as your own, or leave them. It matters not to me. I just thought you may find it useful to see what someone else has come up with - and, just how many years/how long it's taken them. And, bear in mind - these are subject to change. I'm not saying any of my own little "rules" are perfect or won't get outdated (- or that they'll even work for someone else). So, keep in mind that you will need to periodically sit down and ponder through all of this again. And, remember - "Not all who wander are lost." Some of the greatest bits of knowledge and insights come from the process and pondering. That's one of the fun parts of life and of college. It should be an adventure - both fun and scary - but, still an adventure. Anyway, here's my list. Good luck on creating your own!

1. Any problem can be solved with some thought and a good glass of wine. (And - of course - I am NOT advocating that you drink. Alcohol is optional and should be consumed in moderation by those of legal drinking age. 'nuf said!)
2. Breathe. Oxygen is a good thing.
3. Follow your heart - until it's time to follow your head.
4. Look for alternatives.
5. Trust your instincts - even if they don't seem justified.
6. Things will go wrong. You will screw up. Do the best you can and learn from your mistakes.
7. You can always improve.
8. Never stop learning.
9. Appreciate good friends. They are few and far between.
10. Try not to make excuses. Be honest to yourself at least.
11. "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." (Emerson) Don't be afraid to change.
12. "To be great is to be misunderstood." (Emerson) Get over it.
13. You are stronger than you think. Test your limits. Try new things.
14. Don't forget the importance of taking care of yourself sometimes.
15. The little things are important. "Details Matter." (Alberti)
16. Allow people to give you what you need.
17. It's painful, but it's only a growth spurt. This too shall pass.
18. Quit trying to be everything to everyone else. Just be yourself. They can take it or leave it.
19. You do not need to explain yourself to anyone.
20. It can always be worse.

-Prof M

I agree with Prof M. College is about coming to know yourself, what you want to do, and preparing for the future; and, it's about realizing this process is part of the life you lead, not something which happens and ends. I like teaching freshmen because it is in the freshman year where much of the work of finding one's self, learning how to learn, and learning what one wants to live for happens. It is a time when many folks make the transition into being real adults, capable of helping them selves and others.

There isn't a set schedule for this process, and most students--including myself--grope and stumble through much of the first couple of years of college. This is one reason I delay giving grades. There's a lot of growing going on in the first semester, and the student the at the end of the semester is sometimes hardly recognizable when compared to the student who walked into my class. Before I judge a student's work, I want to give them a chance for as much of the growth to happen as possible.

Many of my core values I learned in the thought and reading and work which came from going to college. On reason I ended up getting a degree in English was because it offered a chance to come to know myself and the world through reading and thinking about the best which has been said and thought. In fact, I keep a file of key quotes which inform how and why I live.

When folks visit my and Jena's office, they are sometimes surprised to see a rather large poster of Walt Whitman on a pink background. My wife gave it to me when I went back to graduate school. It isn't my favorite picture of Walt, but the poster does have my favorite quote. Over the years, it has served me much as have Jena's rules for living. Here it is,

...this is what you shall do: love the earth and sun and animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at church or school or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body. (From the "Preface" to the 1855 edition of _Leaves of Grass_)

Couple Whitman's advice with Thomas Jefferson's, "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." and "Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits."

Throw in Henry David Thoreau's, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." and his advice to "Simplify! Simplify!," and you have the essential cornerstones of what I believe makes life worth living, especially a modern American life.

Finally, add in William Morris's "Give me love and work - these two only."and "No man is good enough to be another's master." and "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

Mix them all together and you have a summary of why I live and what I hope to accomplish in this world. I strive to live deliberately and simply, to know myself, to devote myself to others, to stand up to tyranny where ever I find it, to seek to be the master of no one but myself, to work and enjoy my work and duty knowing they help others and myself and create useful beauty, and--finally and most importantly--to love others and be worthy of being loved.

Prof. Steve

Tom???