One of the happiest memories I have is the excitement I felt as a freshman in college. I was excited about living away from home, about meeting new people & making new friends and, yes, about applying myself to the challenges & opportunities of college life.
That I was able to attend college at all is a wonder. It’s not that money was tight. It was practically non-existent. My mother could have kept me home, told me to get a job, but she didn’t. I think she undestood my love of learning, & I think she understood the value to my life of a college education.
Wherever I attended college, short of a convent but somewhere with a lot of supervision, I would need financial assistance. Lawrence provided that assistance in the form of scholarship, loan & work.
Lawrence took a chance on me, & I am the beneficiary. As a freshman, I was headstrong, immature & self-adsorbed. Lawrence widened my perspective & expanded my horizons. My professors, full of those special graces given to educators – enthusiasm & patience – encouraged me to learn for the sake of personal enrichment & to do it well. As a result, my liberal arts education became an education for life, for living.
When the time came for our sons to consider college, I hoped to show them that a liberal arts education at Lawrence gives you a chance to find something you love & that when you find your passion you are, as we say in the current vernacular, good to go!
Or, to borrow a slogan registered with The Greater Springfield, MA Convention & Visitors’ Bureau: ARRIVE CURIOUS, LEAVE INSPIRED.
I did!
I spent a day with a group of Georgia Tech graduates at a Tech/Notre Dame football game recently. They all have a devotion to their alma mater like a passionate patriotism. Strangers walk past eachother yelling “JACKETS!!” at eachother. They volley cheers over tailgating alums. “YELLOW!!” “JACKETS!!” “YELLOW” “JACKETS!!”
I don’t feel this energetic about L.U. But re-reading your post reminds me of a connection I made at the Tech game. My friend and football escort Mike is the 3rd generation in his family to attend Ga Tech. I am the 3rd generation in our family to attend L.U./M.D. – so I guess the type of education we receive is something we are proud of passing onto our children.
I can say that I am proud of my Lawrence education, which has served me well. I would be happy for my children to choose something similar.
Keep writing stuff!