Twelve of us sat at a round table tucked into the back of the restaurant where sizzling sounds and wisps of steam escaped from the kitchen but were blocked by a gold screen. A lazy Susan weighted down by 12 different dishes swiveled back and forth as we piled our plates high with rice, spicy tofu and sweet and sour chicken.
Usually on Tuesday nights we are in a very different setting. But instead of being crammed elbow to elbow in the small classroom at the Honors Center, our professor took us to dinner at Phoenix Garden. We were still touching elbows but this time it didn’t matter.
The idea was to give us some time away from class to talk about normal thing – things other than education and identity, the subjects of our final honors seminar. It did the trick.
Conversations circled the table. We wound up talking about education and identity anyway. That is what brings us together in the college environment. But without having to reference our book, we talked about the same issues we discuss in class and it was different somehow.
Even though most of us have been in honors classes together since our first interdisciplinary seminar as freshmen, there was something unique about this meeting. More relaxed. More confident than in that first math and art seminar.
In high school, the seniors always got nostalgic toward graduation time. They would see things about the present in the best light, not wanting to take that step into the unknown and regretting not having appreciated their time a little more in the safer version of the real world that an educational institution offers.
Maybe that is why this night struck me as special even though most of us have a semester or more (who’s counting?) until commencement. And if we had passed around a yearbook I probably would have scribbled something that began ‘Remember when….’
But there was an energy present around the table that I am sure was encouraged by the good food and change of atmosphere that warranted mushy feelings.
We talked about our plans. Not one of us is headed for the same thing. Computer programming, history, criminology, biology, psychology, English, journalism, music, business, politics.
This has the makings of an interesting 10-year reunion. Many of us talked about not having a set plan of where life would take us. But in general I think we all recognized the important thing is that we have a choice. There was nothing silly about saying ‘When I’m famous…’ or ‘When I take over my boss’ business….’
I hope none of us lose our ability to see possibility in ourselves.
When we sit in classes everyday things can become routine. We forget that each of us is looking to get something out of our time here.
That our professors are here to give something to us and possibly receive something in return.
Holding class in a new venue with a hearty supply of food made me remember these things.
Somehow, despite previous interesting class discussions, I felt like a gap was bridged between real life and the theories we work with in class.
The sense of diverse community as we unwrapped brightly colored foil and cracked open our fortune cookies was something right out of ULV’s mission statement. And it was real.
Bailey Porter, a senior journalism major, is editorial director of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at porterb@ulv.edu.
