Alumni always tell students that their time in college "flies by."
"Enjoy it while it lasts," they say.
I have. But I feel like I've been here forever, and I have the parking tickets to prove it. I've spent time in literally every single building on campus, from the top of the Burkshire to the tunnel underneath Newell Hall.
Administrators like to compare Towson to a small city, but I think it's more like an old-fashioned town.
After living here for four years, I've learned a lot. But it's not what I was tested on.
Don't ask me how to interpret Venus de Milo. I vaguely remember it's an ancient Greek statue. But now, thanks to Art and the Human Body, at least I know how to visit museums and appreciate art.
Don't ask me to define the "association principle." I barely recall all the advertising words I heard during freshman year. But now, thanks to Introduction to Mass Communication, at least I know the relationship between journalists and advertising.
My point is this: the facts I regurgitated on tests don't necessarily matter. Just Google the facts. What matters is the ability to Google the facts - and the capability to understand those facts.
Now I know…
-- a Grade Point Average really isn't the best measure of whether you've learned anything in college.
-- why every student should study abroad. I'll remember my three weeks in China forever.
-- it's okay to skip sleep and take random drives to Washington, Philadelphia or New York. Don't spend all your time in Towson.
-- spending hours searching the Web for conspiracy theories and old Nickelodeon shows isn't a waste of time.
-- every student should spend more time in the Towson Center and the Center for the Arts.
-- the day you skip class WILL be the same day the professor gives a pop quiz. Guaranteed.
-- bad roommates teach good lessons, showing you who you don't want to be.
-- parking used to be worse than it is today. And parking will be better someday -- after you graduate.
-- your grade is equal parts effort and enthusiasm. This one is important. Some classes are a semester-long grade negotiation.
Some of the things I learned were disappointing. For example, now I know that students desperately need stronger representation on campus. Important policy changes are sometimes made in the middle of a semester and implemented immediately - to the detriment of the uninformed student body.
Now I know that prospective students should check a University's construction schedule before enrolling. If I was a high school senior, I'd hesitate before coming here, considering the number of fences encircling parts of campus.
I also know that this campus faces serious deficiencies and disparities in teaching, advising, communicating, and even budgeting.
My chance to make a difference is concluding though. I focused on the communicating problem, using The Towerlight to inform the campus.
The negative knowledge I've picked up is far outweighed by all the good things I've learned. And it's not just the obvious skills, like how to take a multiple-choice test without reading the textbook - it's also the social and intellectual skills that go unmentioned in the textbook.
At the end of 12th grade, my newspaper advisor gave me a paperweight inscribed with the message "the ultimate inspiration is the deadline." I kept it on my desk during my years at the newspaper. And I think it's almost true. (Example: I'm writing this at 11 p.m. on Sunday.)
However, after four years, I'd argue there's something even more inspiring: places like this.
It's places like Towson - eye-opening, life-altering places - where we can make mistakes, stay up too late, study too little, party too hard, and spend too much (sorry mom). Maybe that's why we pay thousands of dollars to be here.
And now that I know, it's time to go.
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