Faces and Voices at BGSU... my opportunities and reflections.
Last Thursday I was included in a wonderful opportunity, a video titled Faces and Voices at BGSU for which I was an on camera personality. It was written by the President’s Office to capture student success, and shown to the Ohio Board of Regents , who visited our campus today. The bottom line is that the Board of Regents decides funding, so this video was designed to impress upon them the continued excellence of BGSU’s student, programs and University on a whole. In addition to the honor of being involved in this project, I also met Milton Hakel, the creator of the Springboard! program. He stopped by to check on the progress of the video while I was in the waiting area memorizing my lines. We spoke briefly about the evolution and success of his program and our countries asinine application of standardized testing to all levels of education. I hate that I can no longer remember his exact words, but he asserted something to the effect of ‘life experience cannot be measured with multiple choice,’ which I completely agree with!
Ironically, after hanging up Springboard! coach recruitment posters around campus today, I was possibly included in another BGSU promotion… I sat on campus with friend, in a quest for sunshine we had plopped upon a marble bench which people rarely use because there’s a dedication on it, as if it’s not meant to be sat on; I neglected to read the inscription as I was more interested in eating my chicken salad wrap and catching up with a former classmate who had joined us. Soon she invited a graduate student-looking passerby over, who proceeded to critique an essay paper that the classmate pulled out…
Before we knew it, a man with a very expensive looking camera was kneeing in the flowerbed before us taking our photograph. I correctly guessed that he was from the Marketing and Communications department, but I was shocked when he said, “no, you don’t need to sign a release form, buy yes, these photos could potentially be used in any BGSU promotional material!” My friend and I later discussed the fact that the photographer couldn’t have staged a more perfect photo for promotional purposed- blossoms were flowing through the breeze from the flower tree directly behind us; directly behind it was the newest, nicest building on campus and we were comprised of a minority and two other students clearly conversating academically with homework in hand..... Just a typical sunny day on a college campus I guess...
Ironically, after hanging up Springboard! coach recruitment posters around campus today, I was possibly included in another BGSU promotion… I sat on campus with friend, in a quest for sunshine we had plopped upon a marble bench which people rarely use because there’s a dedication on it, as if it’s not meant to be sat on; I neglected to read the inscription as I was more interested in eating my chicken salad wrap and catching up with a former classmate who had joined us. Soon she invited a graduate student-looking passerby over, who proceeded to critique an essay paper that the classmate pulled out…
Before we knew it, a man with a very expensive looking camera was kneeing in the flowerbed before us taking our photograph. I correctly guessed that he was from the Marketing and Communications department, but I was shocked when he said, “no, you don’t need to sign a release form, buy yes, these photos could potentially be used in any BGSU promotional material!” My friend and I later discussed the fact that the photographer couldn’t have staged a more perfect photo for promotional purposed- blossoms were flowing through the breeze from the flower tree directly behind us; directly behind it was the newest, nicest building on campus and we were comprised of a minority and two other students clearly conversating academically with homework in hand..... Just a typical sunny day on a college campus I guess...
Later, after speaking with Dr. Miller after our class I realized that these typical days are so close to an end for me... I only have five more class sessions to attend in my undergraduate career! Of course, this doesn't include exams or account for that fact that half my credits this semester are being taken online.
I would have thought I’d be happy at this point, but this has been one of my best semesters and as it draws to a close my quest for knowledge grows greater and greater. I can’t fathom being away from a community that centers on education. Such feelings have me wishing I had applied for graduate school. However, degree holding friends have warned, that feeling is a common symptom as graduation nears, and just as I warn high schoolers of the wrong reasons to select a college, feelings of undergraduate nostalgia are not a reason to pursue graduate school. Time off, and hopefully a year as Miss Ohio and Miss America is certainly the right thing for me right now… but I’m willing to bet that life finds me labeled officially as “student” again at some point.
I would have thought I’d be happy at this point, but this has been one of my best semesters and as it draws to a close my quest for knowledge grows greater and greater. I can’t fathom being away from a community that centers on education. Such feelings have me wishing I had applied for graduate school. However, degree holding friends have warned, that feeling is a common symptom as graduation nears, and just as I warn high schoolers of the wrong reasons to select a college, feelings of undergraduate nostalgia are not a reason to pursue graduate school. Time off, and hopefully a year as Miss Ohio and Miss America is certainly the right thing for me right now… but I’m willing to bet that life finds me labeled officially as “student” again at some point.
posted by Abby Bollenbacher at
12:32 AM
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