The Future: Student Address to the 2010 Gutenberg Graduates
I have been asked to speak about the future. This is a very difficult task at any time, but especially right now. I have been so focused on getting those final synopses in and the correct paper for my thesis to be printed on that I am not even sure what I am doing tomorrow.
I do know that my class is a group of intelligent, beautiful, talented people. I am sure that no matter what we decide to do with the rest of our lives our experience at Gutenberg will continue to affect us—whether we become mothers, fathers, lawyers, go on to grad school, start a coffee shop, or stay barristas for the rest of our lives.
We have many options before us. With all that we have studied these last four years, we could become many different things. We could be scientists, mathematicians, historians, philosophers, even artists.
Wouldn’t any science department love to have a student who does not believe in the scientific method, thinks Ptolemy had legitimate arguments, and who believes that any amount of statistics cannot achieve truth? A student who thinks that theories are merely made by men who rig the “facts” that they have collected in manufactured experiments? Hmm. So maybe science is out of the question.
Math, however… Who wouldn’t want a math student who believes that numbers are essentially a constructed phenomena that have no real bearing on reality and who believes that numbers cannot be used to reach any real knowledge? OK, maybe not math.
What about philosophy? We can think clearly, articulate well, write down well-thought-out arguments—all of which skills are not valued today in philosophy departments around the world.
Hmm. Maybe we’ll find our calling in art. I guess first we’d need to know what art is. Maybe we’ll have to dust off those papers from freshman year when we defined art. I don’t remember what I said.
But, in all seriousness, rather than narrowing our interests, which were quite varied before we started school, Gutenberg has broadened them. I didn’t know before I came to Gutenberg how much nicer it is to not know that you don’t know what you don’t know.
For our immediate plans: I know that all of us are looking forward to a chance to breath. I know all of us are going to take time to figure out what we want to do with our lives. We will be conscientious with these choices. We will take our time and hopefully use the wisdom we have gleaned through four years of intense study and personal growth.
I know every member of my class would agree with me when I say that I have never been more irritated, frustrated, and bothered by any group of people more than I have by my classmates. I also know that I have never been more honored and grateful for a group of people. I have learned so much from my classmates, have received so much grace, and have grown so much through my time with them. I am proud to call myself a part of the Gutenberg College class of 2010. I am proud to call Molly, Jessinah, Jeannie, Tommy, Karl, Brian, Noah, Erin, and Chelsea my classmates.
I know that whatever we decide to do, these four years will be looked back on as a very influential time in our lives. I am confident that our appreciation for each other and the school will only continue to grow.
I am glad to be done; I am glad to be graduating; but the feelings are mixed. My own experience with Gutenberg has been complicated. It has not been a perfect relationship, and while I am grateful for the good times, the hard times have cast a shadow on my experience here. I know I still have a lot to work through, but I also feel confident that I will continue to grow as I process the past and that my time here has been well worth staying for.
The future is an unknown for all of us. But whatever we decide to do with our lives, our time at Gutenberg will have been worth it. Every paper, every all-night study session, every procrastination, every late synopsis, every time we’ve been late to class, every regret, every relationship, every discussion when we’ve been irritated, every class meeting, every apology, and every step of growth will have been well worth the time spent and the lessons learned. May God keep us and bless all of us as we take this next step.
Copyright August 2010 by McKenzie Study Center, an institute of Gutenberg College.
