Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

Education beyond the Classroom

Katie D.

August 30, 2009 - 6:30 PM

During the past three years at the University of Oregon, I have spent a great deal of time outside of a normal academic setting. I love my university classes and am always so excited when I look through the new course catalog to pick classes for the next term. There are hundreds of classes I would like to take: classes about societal structures, language, writing, history, philosophy... I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of a community with so much to offer, with a constant influx of options for study.

Boredom in the classroom has no part in my university experience. I have gone abroad, volunteered, participated in clubs, worked, and pursued internships for other reasons entirely. I want to talk about three of my reasons for all the extra activity that's been so central to my college experience.

First: Why climb Mount Everest? Because it's there. I participate in all these extracurricular activities because they are available. Maybe this seems like a bad reason to do anything, but if you think about it, anything less than a varied schedule is a waste of amazing opportunities. If you have lecturers coming to your campus and you don't go, then what's the point of having them there? If you are lucky enough to attend a highly respected research campus and don't participate in any kind of extracurricular research and publication, then isn't that a chance missed? The same is true for every sport, club, organization, employment opportunity, craft class, or social action event that takes place at the University. It's also true of this amazing city we live in: Eugene is a city of activists, intellectuals, natural beauty, and experience-centered learning. So "why not?" is again a good answer for the question "why?" We have so much available to us. The vast majority of the student body takes advantage of what's there. I've kept myself extremely busy, and I'm glad. Obviously a university is more than just its course offerings. And my college experience has been more than just the classroom.

Second: For the experience. Innumerable studies tell us that one of the most practical ways to be competitive in the workplace is to have a variety of applicable experiences on a resume. And one of the best ways to get this experience is to volunteer. I will graduate from college with at least four new job references to add to my resume. All have been jobs through University employment. I work two jobs through the American English Institute: as a tutor and as an activities coordinator. I work for the Honors College as a tour guide, and I work at the UO Annual Giving Program as a blogger. Each of these jobs brings its own skill set and future references.

But beyond the employment, I have utilized the extracurricular options on campus and in Eugene to acquire new skills. I work as a Spanish/English translator at Volunteers in Medicine. It is an unpaid position, but I know that every time I volunteer there I am not only making a difference in the health and welfare of the clients I serve, but I am also learning more about health care, translating, social realities, interpersonal relations, and how to conduct myself in a service position. I learn things I have never encountered in the classes I've taken in sociology or Spanish. That is the difference between class and volunteering: suddenly there is no theoretical truth, there is just the person in front of you, with their unique needs and history. The more we, as students, can access that other person's reality, the better understanding we have of the world and the better prepared we are to be productive members of it.

My third reason is just as simple, but the most important to me. Just as it would be a waste of opportunity not to take advantage of the extracurricular opportunities because they are available, so it would be a waste not to use what I have learned. Does that make sense? Through all my studies and all my learning as a human being, I have gained experience and knowledge that can make a difference. What a waste if I don't use them.

Academic study has always been extremely important to me. I have always been a good student. But an A on a Spanish test never meant as much to me as my first fluid conversation while studying in Guatemala. Understanding a sociology text has never mattered like working in a Chilean student organization to build homes in a Chilean community. A course on writing could not have given me the discipline and the understanding of the craft of writing that this blogging position has offered. No amount of research for my thesis could ever amount to the understanding I gained in participating in the Inside-Out Prison classes and training program. No immigration text can speak to me like the migrants I encountered while working with the humanitarian aid organization No More Deaths.

I am a student so that I can become an effective member of the world. That means gaining skills. It means learning to never take an opportunity for granted. It means learning that I have something to offer in return for everything that I have learned. Through my study, my volunteering, my experiences, and my skills, I have grown into a person who is ready to make change in this world. So when a new chance to do so arises, how could I possibly justify saying "no" unless I had already filled that time in some other exciting and meaningful way?

I'll leave you with two quotes:

"Life is calling, how far will you go?"
-Peace Corps promotion

And, my favorite Latin phrase:

Carpe diem
Seize the day!