Grinnell Propaganda - (No. 70)
I spread Grinnell College propaganda to imaginary prospective students.
12:20pm
A few thoughts on daily activities:
Writing applications. I should write after lunch and dinners, that half hour of just writing about why I want to go. I really do believe I can make it to a Stanford or a Brown. I need to tell my story. I have an interesting story. Let it out everyday. But not just those applications. Today, during this post-lunch escapade, I will write about MidAmerican Energy. Please hire me and feed me. No, just sending things out. Job apps, research apps. There are quite a lot.
Reading a personal book. I need to rigorously enforce this. I need to have time for that self-pondering.
Exercising. Everyday, it is a must. It helps my sleep, too, I bed. And the biggest thing I didn't realize is that it helps you look in the mirror, instead of avoiding it. Somehow, when you know you are moving towards something, that you are progressing and improving, you look in the mirror and see beauty, even if you look like shit. You see the best of yourself, because you know you are working on the best for yourself. To be able to hold a gaze in the mirror, at yourself, that is one of the most overlooked things I feel we don't talk about. Many of us never actually can stare at yourself for a while, without feeling all sorts of emotions, none of them positive.
Review for classes. Honestly, the one largest class this needs to be done is linear algebra. Statistics, yes, to a certain extent. But Linear... it is just way too dense. I know I will have to pour effort into it, to see result. It won't be easy in the slightest, but of course, the more you do it... well, I don't know about easy, but it becomes manageable.
A thought at lunch1. I sat and watched this prospective student at the table in front of me. Haha, getting fed propaganda. The student guide was that one girl from the writing center who was working as an assistant (and writing center assistant is a sweet job, too, so she said). In my head, though, I was thinking about my pitch, to a potential student.
Yeah, it's pretty cool. I mean, there are a lot of downsides you can think of. The food, the campus, the location. But I mean, the education is so purely good. There is no other way to live than through the liberal arts, it is a mentality that you can take anywhere. And a perspective perhaps different than the other interviewers and tour guides -- they usually pick third or fourth years, who are evidently staying and who profess a love for the school. But some people can feel like that's ingenuine. Me, I mean, I would talk about the people who aren't here. The people who left to do 3-2, to study-abroad, and to do 2-1-1-2 programs at WashU or Dartmouth or Caltech. And the people who transferred out. I am of the opinion that there is no better first place for a first-year. There are other places, too, of course, but in my situation, this was such a good idea.
If you don't feel confident applying as a first year to your Browns and Ivy League and Harvard and Stanfords, you should start here. Here, you are introduced to what college is supposed to be like. Here you learn the ideals of an education, the theory of a liberal education and how important that is—you sure won't get that at a state school.
The liberal education, not in the sense of "the liberal media" but, you know, liberal in the sense of free. Freedom of classes, of knowledge, and completeness. We strive to build the wholeness of a person. And of course, you may say, well that's not working out, but at least we're aiming in the right direction.
Here, the closeness of the classes and sheer excellence of professors and classes mean that you are getting a incredibly quality education, one that other schools acknowledge and recognize. The open curriculum, if you know how to use it effectively and properly, means that you'll get the chance to take way more diverse coursework and expose yourself to way more interesting and rigorous ideas than you would be able to anywhere else.
I'm a first-year, right, and I can take 200- and 300-level courses, in my field of study, yes, but also in my random fields of interest2! Where else is that possible?
Here, there are more opportunities than there are students, and you'll surely be able to end up with work experience, on-campus jobs, research experience, experience leading initiatives and running them. You get work experience, research experience, volunteering experience—all accredited and verified by virtue of Grinnell being a pretty well-off and well-known school (at least in academic circles). What other first-year experience gets all of those? Even if you don't manage to transfer, well, you are still so much better off than a dude at wherever, or even some of our supposedly famous private schools as well. See, I quite love Grinnell, for what it's done for me.
Of course, you have to look for all of these things. They don't just come to you. The nature of the place, the structure and the format, just make it a lil easier.
I would be discounting my own effort and time spent if I were to say the college did it all for me. In fact, it may even seem like they're not doing enough. But it's there, if you look for it3.
Well, this is the main part of the article. I’m writing from 750words, so of course, there is always random ideas scattered in front, about daily habits, updates, whatever. This was stream of consciousness, as usual.
I’m excited about it, now, but like, it’s been a week. We can check back later.
And perhaps, the part about looking for it is what cultivates real students and scholars. You have to look for it, and a place is only good if it gives you the freedom to choose. These things are only good when you search for it and genuinely want it, not when they are force-fed or spoon-fed to you.