I received a gift today. It was a book. And as I begin packing my bag for my next adventure, I can’t help but make sure it makes it into the pile.
Desertification: Exploding the Myth was given to me by surprise and by my favorite college professor. He’s looking towards retiring and wanted to hand it off to someone he knew would take care of it. For 30 minutes, I bear hugged the book and sat and talked with him about the state of our university.
He’s sad that no one comes to class anymore. Nobody seems eager to learn. Nobody sees academia as the privilege it truly is. Given the choice, most students would rather show up for the exam twice a semester and skip everything else. He’s disappointed because so many professors pour their heart, soul and experience into their lectures and it’s hard to get our generation’s attention.
My heart hurts for our school and our future. I guess nowadays, it is about getting the degree. We rush through school to go to college to get a degree to get a job to get a house to start a family to eventually retire to have the time to…do what? Live? Now is the time to live and learn and damn, for those of us in academia, we are so blessed with the resources to do just that, and do it real well.
Never forget why you started something in the first place. Make yourself proud. And Jeeze, thank your good ol’ professors. They just want to see you succeed.
