The College Life

As I begin writing this entry, I can't help glancing at the time. Not only because the deadline for the DB is approaching in a few hours, but also because I need to get out of my dorm as soon as possible and back to my home at the studio. Yep. I introduce my visitors to Goldsmith by welcoming them to my home. It IS where I spend most of my time after all, and I'm not properly awake during a lot of those hours.

Photocred: Charlotte McClure

This is what I'm tempted to do very often... although it hasn't occurred yet.

I wasn't always certain that I wanted to be an architect. The first thing I ever wanted to be was a teacher. But I realized that I always had a crayon in hand, and it tended to rub off on a lot of things... paper, walls, the table... and then I decided to be an artist. That way, I could put color on lots of different things and my mother couldn't get upset about it! I was too young for my parents to tell me what careers were "practical" and which ones weren't. They were supportive of all of my dreams, even when I switched to archaeology. I fell in love with dinosaurs, and wanted to dig up their bones in remote corners of the world, then put them together like puzzles.

Needless to say, there are a lot of things I wanted to be, but only a few things I knew I absolutely couldn't. I hate blood. It makes me queasy and faint and as much as I want to help people, I'm the last person cut out to be a doctor. Numbers also drive me insane sometimes - a completely math based profession was out of the question. I grew up with parents who pursued subjects other than their dreams. My mother wanted to be an architect all her life, and later considered graphic design, but fell into accounting instead. My dad wanted to study history, but went with the safer choice of economics. Therefore, they've always been supportive of me following my dreams, but within "reason."

What is reason though? Who decides what the parameters of practicality are? Arthur Goldberg stated '"The greatest value of an education is a strong sense of curiosity"' (300).

chatteronchildren.com.au

We could all take a page out of Curious George's book.

I have so many interests, its been a difficult journey trying to choose a major. I started thinking about it early, because I like to have a plan and a course of action. The track I'm on, Architecture + Plan II seems perfect to me - I get a practical and creative outlet in Architecture, and Plan II gives me the opportunity to indulge in every other interest I have and delve into ones I hadn't known I could have. Coming to university is supposed to be what opens my mind. The only problem I've encountered is that the track I'm on is pretty restricted. I'm not quite as free as Elizabeth, and don't have that same feeling of liberation she exults in, and I'm a little jealous of that (I hope it works out fabulously for you!). At the same time, I absolutely love all of my classes. I can live with the fact that I may not always be well-rested, or well-fed, or a social butterfly. I'm learning a lot, and can't wait to continue. I want to explore all I can.

Thank goodness Plan II gives me that opportunity. A liberal arts education "shows [one] how to accommodate [oneself] to others, how to throw [oneself] into their state of mind, how to bring before them [one's] own, how to influence them, how to come to an understanding with them, how to bear with them...[to be] at home in any society..." (292). Being in two such creative fields, I and other impressionable students starving for knowledge will constantly be pushed. We will learn to push our own boundaries - I've learned very quickly that our professors force us to question ourselves, our preconceptions, our opinions... but mostly, we do it to ourselves. How can I make myself better? How can I make this model better? How can I read and understand this novel better, tweak this paper I wrote to read better?

When it comes from within, we can go out and learn. Knowledge doesn't just happen, or just come to you. Fate is fickle. What is within us is much more reliable. "No one will come knocking on your door, you must AGGRESSIVELY go after these things and do the knocking on doors" (284B). Its a variation of Harry Potter's Professor Moody's pithy motto: "Constant Vigilance!" We must be vigilant in our pursuit of knowledge, and university is the perfect place to do so. Where else is it encouraged to simply go forth and learn?

I plan to take full advantage of it.