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opinion:
se what
It's never too
late to get school spirit
I thought about writing
just another regular column, ranting at someone for something.
But then, reading the other farewell columns, I waxed nostalgic.
I'm going to miss this, gosh darnit.
OK, but before
I get all sentimental, I want a word with all of you freshman
and sophomores and transfer students (seniors, graduating
or not, go away - you're already a lost cause).
I've been in college
for five (count 'em, five) years. In that time, I've learned
that it's easy - far too easy - to distance yourself from
the school when you don't live on campus. And our much-lamented
commuter campus atmosphere doesn't do much to compensate for
that.
I've only been
to one sporting event, a soccer game I had to cover for the
paper last summer. I've never actually been inside The Pyramid.
I've never been
inside the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, either or the
University Theatre on upper campus. I've never been to Kaleidoscope.
Although I wrote about them, I didn't vote in the Associated
Students Inc. elections.
The words "Go
Beach" have only crossed my lips in jest. I don't own
a single article of clothing that says "CSULB" or
"LBSU" or "Cal State Long Beach." No stickers,
either. I didn't even go to SOAR, because, for some reason,
I never heard about it.
I am the antithesis
of Beach Pride.
The only interaction
I've had with the campus is through the newspapers (both the
On-line Forty-Niner and the Union). The papers are the only
reason I would have ever stepped foot in the University Student
Union. Well, that and El Pollo Loco.
But here's the
sad part: I have friends, walking in two weeks, who have done
even less than I have, who haven't done anything on campus
but walk to class. They, like me, never saw the point in getting
involved on campus.
Don't get me wrong:
I'm not saying everyone should join a club or an A.S.I. commission.
Getting that involved takes a special kind of person, and
most of us, myself included, aren't that kind of special.
But there are so
many events on campus that don't require anything but time
and interest. There is an art gallery that showcases student
work, in addition to the University Art Museum. The film department
is having a showcase this weekend that features all student
films - and there are some mighty talented people in that
department. A Japanese Animation festival is being held at
the Carpenter Center the weekend after finals.
These types of
events happen all the time - lectures, new bands in the USU,
cultural fairs. I know, I know: It's so easy to walk by the
posters without reading them, so easy to forget about school
once you get onto Bellflower Boulevard and are cruising home,
so easy to be cynical and dismiss the on-campus events and
the few people who attend them as silly. I know, because I
do it.
But these things?
They're actually kind of cool. And our school, despite its
many foibles, is actually a pretty cool place.
It's not about
Beach Pride or "making new friends," despite what
the brochures and the A.S.I. presidents tell you. It's about
enriching yourself and exposing your mind to different ideas,
different perspectives and different types of people.
I'm lucky. I'm
not graduating, so I have the opportunity to make up for lost
time. I plan on doing so. And I would ask that all of you
still here next year to at least consider taking advantage
of all the interesting things that happen here.
OK. Lecture over.
And in closing, I leave you with two words, said with all
the sarcasm and cynicism I can muster: Go Beach.
Sé J.
Reed is a print journalism and international studies major
at Cal State Long Beach.
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