Yes, I made it through college in slightly more than 4 years due to an excursion to a novitiate. I started out as a pre-pharmacy major. After taking organic chemistry, I switched my major to political science. Thus, I had many classes in science, math, philosophy, etc. It was a very well grounded liberal arts education.
Yesterday, I was trying to recall one tangible and useful thing I learned in college. I am sure I learned some. However, they could not have been too important if I cannot recall them. There is just one thing that I can recall.
In my first year, I took Introduction to Theater to satisfy one of the general requirements. The instructor was Arthur Ballet. Professor Ballet was a combination of Tony Randall and Charles Nelson Reilly. At that point, he had been teaching this class for nearly 30 years. The class was always filled to capacity (700 students). When I took the class, Ballet was getting up in his years and he was battling cancer. He knew that his time on earth was limited. As a result, he would often impart philosophical lessons.
One morning at the end of class, he was lamenting that many people choose not to explore new things. He said people should not worry about failing if they try things that might not "work out" or be enjoyable. He argued that every bit of progress that has been made is due to people that were not afraid to try new things or look at the same things from different perspectives. He then posed the question that sums up the most important thing I learned (and can recall) from college. In Professor Ballet's words - How often do we say, "I know what I like and I dont' like that" when what we really mean is "I like what I know and I don't know that"?
1 comment:
Interesting. I graduated from the U in 1973 and I, too, was fortunate enough to take Arthur Ballet's "Introduction to Theater" class. The line that has stuck with me that he often repeated is, "HOW CAN YOU BE SO SURE?" Many times in the years since, as I have clarified my values and my worldview, I have asked myself that question, and on some issues, yes, I'm really sure, and on other ones I'm not so sure, so I leave the answer open-ended. It has also helped me to grant more grace to others whose opinion differs from mine, as I leave open the possibility that although I don't think so, there is that outside chance that I could be reading it wrong. Ballet was an awesome teacher, the best I ever encountered at the U. There were a few other standouts, but not many.
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