A couple of Colby shout-outs
Something phenomenal is afoot. It’s a personal revelation. And while I often claim to have vanquished the horde of gremlins that is Narcissism, I will now deconstruct this rather personal revelation for all of my die-hard fans.
I say the following with butterflies; However, I never got that metaphor so let me re-phrase. I say it with that feeling in my stomach I get when I realize I like a girl, but my stomach has decided to play this really funny practical joke where it won’t let me eat and so I die from hunger before I can experience my newfound love. Here it is: I like this place. Colby.
Let me explain why I’m astounded: I’m usually a hateful person, and not in a cool, edgy, leather jacket way. I’m like a malfunctioning, possessed Furby, spinning around, one eye-lid drooping, chirping “I hate, I hate,” even after you lock me in a dark closet (which the Hasbro directions clearly outlined as a viable method for turning me off!). Frequently, I’ve turned this hate towards Colby. “I hate these decorations in Dana, I hate the administration, I hate this party, bah-de-bah-de-bah” – all mindless drivel, rationalizations to cover up my lack of engagement. For too long, I’ve ignored the example of those who have stood up and enacted change.
So, here’s why I like this place. Terrible things have happened here this semester, and people have responded valiantly. At times, suffering in the bubble (the force-field as I’m wont to call it) has become unreal. We live in a country where tragedy is sensationalized until it becomes surreal. This year, though, suffering has become more familiar, more resonant. We’ve all been made to feel pain we may not have known existed. We’ve practiced empathy.
Maybe it’s a sign of my detachment that part of my takeaway from such a tumultuous semester is a newfound love for this school. Yet, it’s not familiarity with tragedy that has made this semester so inspiring, but the response to said tragedy. The wave of compassion that has crashed over campus has been enlivening. My education, as a citizen, as a person of compassion is becoming complete because of the bravery of certain individuals. So, I have some seemingly random thank-yous to toss out. These are people who have really struck me this semester. Dana Roberts, your voice as an instrumental leader with the Colby Volunteer Center has been steady, and reassuring for years. You fly under the radar, which speaks to your humility, but more people need to know how much effort you put in.
Grant Patch, you’d rather come off as an anthropomorphized care-bear than risk not telling someone you care about them.
Professor McFadden, in the classroom you’ve advocated intellectual curiosity as a vehicle to moral discovery. Such curiosity has made my education worthwhile.
Berol Dewdney, you’ve taught this campus that strength rises from vulnerability. You were a major catalyst for social change on this campus this semester.
Laura Maloney, your immediate and heartfelt attention to student needs reminds me that politics at its finest is noble civic engagement.
Jeremy Gooden and Maggie Bower, when I was an underclassman I felt like an underclassman. You two don’t seem restrained by silly dynamics like what your grade you’re in. I admire you both immensely.
Carla Aronsohn, you inspired a comic about a hero named Wonderwoodsman. I can’t continue to do you justice through it, and I can’t divorce the character from its source material, and so the comic is dead. Needless to say, Wonderwoodsman is still fighting evil, just not through my amateur drawings.
To the community at large, thank you for coalescing around compassion. We are still working out the kinks, but things are getting better.
This may or may not be an abuse of the Colby Echo’s Opinion section. Aren’t opinion articles supposed to be persuasive pieces peppered with acerbic wit, or incendiary prose? This is just too warm and fuzzy.
