I’ve always thought that nothing expands one’s horizons like travel. I’ve been blessed to visit most of the continental United States, Canada and Mexico. Trips to Africa, Asia and South America are on my bucket list. And as dangerous as it appears to be these days, the Holy Land is also somewhere I’d like to go, along with several European countries.
One of the universal truths I’ve come to understand through my various travel experiences is that people are just that – people. Sure, languages, skin color and hair types vary. Customs and cultures differ according to climate, income, education and socialization. But at the end of the day, we’re all just human beings making our way through the mystery we all call “life.”
Travel is still the best way to mature and get an understanding of people, but a university education is the next best thing. Or at least it should be. Unless you’re in a metropolitan area, where else other than a university campus can someone find an opportunity to live and interact among so many different types of people? Social media aside, nothing connects us with real people better than real time spent in close proximity on a regular basis.
Here at the University of Mississippi, we are given plenty such opportunities. Yet, I know most people choose to remain in their familiar social circles. It’s easy. It’s comfortable. It’s expected.
But it’s also predictable, limiting and counterproductive to having a genuine university experience. If all someone wants from going to college is a degree, it would probably be simpler to just do it online. Technology makes it possible to earn numerous academic credits without ever setting foot in a classroom.
But there’s more to going to college than taking classes, isn’t there? Sure, there is. There’s living in a dormitory or off campus with or without roommate(s). There’s dining at any number of restaurants with other students, faculty or administrators. There’s joining Greek organizations, professional and honor societies and social clubs. There’s participating in and/or watching collegiate athletics, both intramural and intercollegiate. There’s being part of a diverse group of people brought together for worthwhile and benevolent causes. There’s dating a few people and meeting someone special who becomes the person with whom you want to spend the rest of your life. There’s volunteering to promote worthwhile causes that benefit others. There’s all this and so much more.
Of course, no one can be forced to do any of these things. A student could easily just enroll, attend classes, past courses progressively, earn a degree and move on without having ever getting involved with various aspects of campus life. Ignore it all.
But why? As long as we’re here at the University of Mississippi, we might as well get better acquainted and see where things go. Amidst literally thousands of individuals on a daily basis for months at a time, the potential is there to actually be more strangers, casual acquaintances or perceived enemies.
Who knows? We might even learn how to become friends. That would truly be making the most of the university experience.