Welcome Back!
Welcome to the Fall 2024 semester! I hope your classes are off to a great start and you are getting settled in to the campus environment. If you just arrived in Kalamazoo or in Michigan more generally, be advised that the weather isn’t always this lovely—but 51¸ŁŔűÉç is still a great place to be!
A headline in Tuesday’s Chronicle of Higher Education caught my eye: “College Feels Transactional to Many Students. Who — or What — Is to Blame?” A better question, it seems to me, is what can we do about it?
First, what does it mean to say that college is transactional? The basic idea is that you (or someone on your behalf) pays tuition and, in exchange, you eventually get a diploma. In an ideal world, that diploma will help you get a better job and lead to a better life.
An alternative way of thinking about college is that it should be transformational. Because you went to college, the “you” that graduates should be different than the “you” that enrolled as a first-year student. To some extent, that’s the assumption on which the “better job and better life” is based. If you aren’t transformed, why would your job prospects be any different at the end of college than they were at the end of high school?
Think about it this way. I walk up to a vending machine, insert some money, and receive a bag of chips. I’ve completed a transaction, but I’m the same me—plus a bag of chips.
Your college experience should be more than that. Your transformation is a unique process. To say that a person is transformed doesn’t mean there was anything wrong with them prior to their transformation. It just means that they’ve become a better “them” than they were before. Maybe they’ve developed a new skill or found a new passion. Maybe they’ve honed existing skills or passions. Maybe they’ve questioned their beliefs when exposed to new ideas or new people. Maybe they’ve adapted those views in the face of new information, or maybe they’ve developed a deeper understanding of old beliefs that had previously been unexamined.
“Alright,” you might be thinking, “suppose I buy into to your transformational gobbledygook. How do I make it happen?” I’m glad you asked.
The first thing to understand is that transformation requires investment on your part. Not financial investment, but investment of other resources: time, energy, enthusiasm.
On the academic side, consider the words of Kevin Knutson, an alumnus of our department and now-retired Director of Advising for 51¸ŁŔűÉç’s College of Arts and Sciences. His mantra is plastered on the wall of the CAS Advising Office: “Go to class. Do your work. Ask for help.” I might add a plug for reading, but it’s hard to argue with that advice.
Outside the classroom, the opportunities afforded by 51¸ŁŔűÉç are almost limitless. Take advantage of some of them to expand your horizons. Join a club. Go to a special lecture on a topic that interests you. Try out a concert or play. Watch the Broncos compete in a sport you’ve never seen live. You may vow never to do it again, and that’s okay. The point is that you’ve broadened your horizons, taken a risk. And who knows, you may discover your next great passion. Either way, you’ve created an opportunity for transformation.
In the transformational space, the academic and non-academic sides work in tandem. Both are important parts of the college experience. Working together, they can make you the “you” that you were always meant to be.
Here’s to the start of a great year!