Class Matters

Last time, I wrote an article about the unsettling consequences of settling for convenience. This week, however, I want to write about one example of convenience that students at Bowdoin should take advantage of. Our school is small and so are our classes, a unique feature of Bowdoin that makes our campus stand out among other colleges. On a field trip last week to a small island off the coast of Maine, I was reminded of the opportunity I have here to meet new people in my classes and form meaningful relationships with both my professors and my peers. At Bowdoin, a new friend is never far away.

I’m fully aware that this probably already sounds similar to the speech you heard on the first day of freshman year (the one where B. Mills lists the cool things your classmates have done in order to emphasize that you have all been hand picked to come here, are unique, etc), but I finally am starting to understand what Mr. President was getting at on that September evening on the quad. In every class you have here at Bowdoin, I’m certain there is at least one person who has a lot more going on than you know. Whether he or she knows a lot about music, cooks really well, or does some modeling over vacations, there’s probably something you can learn from them.

Over the course of my field trip, I had a chance to talk to my classmates—students I have rarely spent time with outside of the classroom—about issues and experiences both Bowdoin related and not. We talked about everything from favorite foods, to feelings about birth control. In twenty-five hours, I learned a lot about my classmates and was forced to recognize and rethink some of the convictions I didn’t even know I believed. I learned, for example, that it is possible to be a male member of the Outing Club and to also get haircuts at Devachan, a hair salon in New York City that is self-described as, “A sanctuary where clients [can] develop a pro-curl attitude, realize their curl potential, and celebrate their curls.” I also realized that it is possible to be a Teaching Studies minor and aspire to work with children as a career, yet never intend to have children of your own. Conversely, I found out in the same conversation, that is possible to be my same age and extremely intent on having children, already sure of how many and at what point this will happen. I appreciate the knowledge gained from spending time with my classmates, the details that make them the people they are, but rarely make it into classroom discussion.

Despite Bowdoin’s small size, I understand that it isn’t easy to just make conversation with any and everyone on campus. I was recently told, while raving about how friendly our campus is, that the so-called “Bowdoin ‘Hey!’” doesn’t actually exist. Upon this groundbreaking and upsetting discovery, I reconsidered my attempts to wave and smile at other students—evidence, I thought, of campus friendliness—only to realize that the responses were often unenthusiastic and the interactions were generally awkward. Notwithstanding the extinction of the “Bowdoin ‘Hey!’” among other forms of spontaneous philanthropy, class is still a great place to find new friends. It’s easy to strike up conversation about coursework—some personal favorites: “How’d that test go?” “Have you started that paper yet?” “What are you doing to study?” (Nerdy, but foolproof)—and a study/problem-set group can quickly escalate into something more:

Group – Calculators + iPod = DP*

Your classmates are probably pretty nice people and it’s worth getting to know them. If for no other reason, it’s good networking practice (For more information: Tim Diehl).
 
*Dance Party…duh!

Photo credit:
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