April 29, 2004

Reflection

My advice

Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

My advice to people at La Salle and in general hasn't changed much in four years:

  • "Follow your bliss," as Campbell said. Find what you're passionate about and explore that until the ends to which it takes you.

  • Do something every day that scares you, even if it's just a little scare (this I stole from the "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen" song from 8 years ago.)

  • Go to your classes - you're paying for them (or you will be) and it's the easiest way to get a good grade.

  • Get to know your professors - more than a few are people beyond their jobs who enjoy interacting with students.

  • Blue and Gold Breakfast is the best meal of the day by far.

  • Don't be afraid to make connections between your classes: realizing those connections is what the whole "liberal arts" thing (which you complain about so much) is all about

  • Make your voice heard in RSA or SGA or through a student organization. They have money to spend acting in your interests, and have clout to get what you want done. On the reverse side of this, help these organizations out with your time and energy.

  • The All Campus Formal is an awesome time for a small amount of money.

  • Never turn down a midnight pretzel run.

  • Get into the city! Learn how to take the subway to get to the parts of Philadelphia that interest you. Go into the city whenever you can.

  • If you have a car, learn how to get to the Wawa in Germantown. This will save you during exam weeks, and probably make you some friends. (For the record: Go out towards the TC Apartments on Chew, and keep going until Chew dead ends. Make a left. Make a right. It's on your left hand side.

And that's it, I think.

The People
La Salle has always been about the people for me. I'm here because of a few chance relationships that I formed in my senior year at Calvert Hall. I first applied on the advice of Bro. Mike Tidd, who had done graduate work here. I met Sid MacLeod randomly when he came to film something in the Honors Center at CHC. He got to talking about the Communication department, and I wound up getting a Christmas card and a random note from him in February asking about how the search was coming. In April, I think it was, I went to an open house here where I heard a professor speak about her experiences here. I was sitting on the far left side of the Dan Rodden Theatre, and she hobbled in on crutches. She didn't even take the stage, but she spoke so eloquently and effectively from where she was at the foot of the audience that I knew I was sold. Her dedication was just so evident - dedication not only to La Salle, but also to her profession and the people that she taught and worked with. That professor, I realized later, was Dr. Gauss, of the School of Business Administration, whose daughter I got to know through the Masque.

I speak about the people now because they're what I'm going to miss. They're what I'm going to always remember - that sense of family that came through on so many joyous occasions - Opening weekend, Commencements, Masses, Carnifalls, CAJHFests, MATLC BBQ's, plays and musicals - and on so many dark days - deaths, gas main fires, power outages. I feel weird when I describe the sense of family that exists at La Salle, but it's there. There's the game of "Six Degrees of Separation" in which one is able to connect a person to any other person on the planet through a maximum of six other people. If the game is played at La Salle, I'm a firm believer that it becomes "One Degree..." or at most "Two Degrees..."

In many ways, I can say that the last 5 months have been some of the most active times in which I've made new friends. Some of these friends I've gotten to know quite well, and others I've barely scratched the surface with. I hope our relationships continue - all of you. I've said that a lot lately: Kiss the Wall, with seniors standing on main campus, talking one on one... Commencement, to me has always meant "MOVE ON;" however, none of us are going to blink out of existence on May 9th at 11am (or 2pm, depending on the rain...) So seek us out; for the most part, you're on my buddy list. Don't be a stranger, and if we've meant something, don't allow us to be strangers either. On the other hand, let us know when we've become annoying and you need us to move on.

I deeply feel that every person that I've met over these last four years has affected me in some way. I remember reading in a great book this theory called "Locard's Exchange Principle." The gist of this principle is that whenever someone passes through a room, they unwittingly leave something and take something else away. I think that the chance meetings that occur every day adhere to this principle - everyone we meet, and everywhere we go, we both gain something for ourselves and give something to someone else. I know I at least feel that way after all of the meetings and run-ins that I've had at La Salle over these four years. Some of my gifts were significant, but many were minimal. The same goes for the gifts that I received: but realize that they have all affected me.

The important thing in the end became not what was said, or what the content of the conversation was, but that it was said, that we were in that place at that moment, together. In a way, life is merely a series of chance meetings played out over time. We make of them what we want and what we can.

I guess what I'm trying to say in my flowery language is thank you to all the people that I've worked with, met, studied with, acted with, talked with, ate with, ran with, whatever - thank you for affecting me and for helping to make me who I am right now. I sincerely hope, and know a great deal, that many people feel the same way. I wish you the best in whatever you want to do - whatever it is that you're passionate about, even if the passion is only for a short while.

I don't know what it is that I'm fully trying to say. My experience will not be everyone's experience. I don't want it to be. Still, there's an overwhelming urge to pass things on. I'm the guy that can't let things go unsaid to people (which has gotten me into some interesting situations, let me tell you...)

So La Salle, thank you again. I'll miss the family, but I still will be around, if distant.

Right Now

I'm done with all of my undergraduate work.

Aside from checkout duty, I'm finished with all of my CA responsibilities.

I am content. No regrets. Nothing left unsaid for the most part. Four years later I feel enriched, happy, content, and ready for what is coming next.

I'm losing my computer on Friday morning, so I will be out of touch for most of the days in the next week. If you're at Commencement, look for me. Drop me an email. Don't be a stranger.

A song that I just heard recently for the first time:
"Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall" by Simon and Garfunkel
Through the corridors of sleep
Past the shadows dark and deep
My mind dances and leaps in confusion.
I don't know what is real,
I can't touch what I feel
And I hide behind the shield of my illusion.

Chorus:
So I'll continue to continue to pretend
My life will never end,
And flowers never bend
With the rainfall.

The mirror on my wall
Casts an image dark and small
But I'm not sure at all it's my reflection.
I am blinded by the light
Of God and truth and right
And I wander in the night without direction.

:Chorus:

It's no matter if you're born
To play the King or pawn
For the line is thinly drawn 'tween joy and sorrow,
So my fantasy
Becomes reality,
And I must be what I must be and face tomorrow.

:Chorus:

And one final note: if you're going to comment on this entry, I'd ask that you be kind. I apologize if I've sounded wistful or self-righteous. I do like comments, but keep this last line in mind.

[Listening to: "Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall", by Simon & Garfunkel from the album "Old Friends"]
Posted by Matthew at April 29, 2004 02:27 AM
Comments

Ah kind sir Demizio... it has been a pleasure to have you amongst my company during the past three years. Thanks for your wisdom and support. The Barbecue Student Association will be nothing without you. However, since you will be going to Villanova, you have no excuses to not stay in touch and come back and play tennis at night (and get thrown off the courts by overzealous security guards). Best wishes.
-Greg

Posted by: Greg on May 5, 2004 02:47 PM
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