Hello
2016-ers!
As
we move towards the second half of the spring semester, I’d like to remind you
of some of the wondrous opportunities available to you here at Trinity. Trinity is unique among liberal arts colleges
our size in that we have a number of endowments dedicated to bringing
world-famous guest speakers to campus.
In the next few weeks, we will have Azar Nafisi, Iranian-American and
the international best-selling author of Reading
Lolita in Tehran, Roger B. Myerson, recipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize in
economics, Walter Isaacson, a writer and biographer who has written biographies
on Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Henry Kissinger, and 1996 Nobel Prize
recipient in Chemistry, Sir Harold Kroto, among others.
These
are events for which you would have to pay incredible amounts of money to be a
part of in the ‘outside world,’ even in the rare likelihood that the
opportunity was extended to you. Here at
Trinity, you only have to step outside your dorm room and walk to a
comfortable, convenient theatre to hear some of the greatest minds of our
age.
The
largest problem, as I see it, is making the time. How many times have you heard about something
after the event, and could kick yourself for missing it? I am going to advise you to not let that
happen. It’s so easy to just think,
“Well, there will be someone else next week.
I can go to that.” You are
correct, we suffer from an embarrassment of riches when it comes to that. However, I would suggest that each such
opportunity missed has lessened the potential of your world on some level. And that opportunity does not return.
So,
I have a couple of suggestions. If you
don’t already subscribe to Leeroy, do so immediately. It is not only your best source of events on
campus, it is one of the many vehicles for disseminating vital information
about academic deadlines and experiences.
Be prepared to read it, and enter events of interest in your
calendar. Sometimes that’s all that is
necessary. You see it in your schedule,
you make it to the event.
Sometimes,
a bit more is necessary. On one
particular night, how do you choose among the bewildering number of variety
shows, theatrical presentations, music concerts, lectures, film screenings, and
athletic events? It’s called
prioritizing. You cannot do it all here
at Trinity, at least when it comes to extracurricular events. But you can set one evening aside every
couple of weeks to attend the lecture sponsored by departments other than your
own, you can get out to see the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar, or The Trinity
University VIEW Symposium.
Trinity
considers all of these activities part of the well-rounded liberal arts
education, as important as homework, papers, declaring a major, and setting up
internships. These events stretch your
mind and soul in ways that you cannot even imagine, let alone be able to
quantify at this stage of your life.
Don’t let them slip through your fingers. Make time for them, get them on your
calendar, get out to hear them, and grow!
Cheers,
Dr. M
Dr. M
