Monday, June 29, 1998
Gleaning from campus events as essential as book learning
INVOLVEMENT: Making friends, joining activities fulfills college
experience
The hum of helicopters punctuates the serenity of my dorm room.
As I peer out my window, I vaguely make out a crowd gathered in
front of Royce Hall. During a phone call with my father, I learn
that UCLA has been on the nightly news. My friend tells me to get
down to the protest. I tell myself, "Maybe I’ll just check out the
rally on my way to Powell Library." I grab my backpack and my
roommate, and I run down to campus.
As we edge closer and closer to the anti-Proposition 209 rally,
my roommate and I giggle about how exciting it all is. I wonder how
many students were arrested after taking over the building which
symbolizes UCLA on every outgoing document I have ever seen.
Something was in the air. I knew that whatever was happening
atop Janss steps would be historical. I instantly regretted
thinking that studying could be more important than witnessing UCLA
at its best. How could anyone pore over free speech case-studies
when hundreds of students were actually exercising their rights at
that very moment?
Huffing and puffing we clear the Janss steps. There I stand,
absorbing the images flashing before me. It’s as if the fervor and
angst of the 1960s have been replaced by the fury and activism of
the ’90s.
Police in riot gear surround Royce Hall where protesters covered
in white face-paint scream their criticisms from the second-floor
balcony. About a hundred protesters huddle together in vocal
support. Some carry signs, others carry lighters and candles.
Representatives from the opposition stand atop the steps of Powell
with an American flag in hand. Spotlights from the police and media
helicopters shed light on the students gathered beneath the night
sky.
No matter what conversations I engage in during the course of
the evening, all my mind can really focus on is one isolated
thought. Every few minutes I tremble in awareness of the events
surrounding me, and I think to myself, "Damn, I love this
school."
More than 80 students were arrested in the rally. During the
week that followed, the issue of affirmative action at the
university was hotly contested in the pages of the paper, as well
as in conversations all over campus. The energy that had taken hold
of students, no matter what their opinions were, was symbolic in
its own right. UCLA students had found something to care about;
their actions flew in the face of those who sought to label our
generation as apathetic and uncaring; it seemed that everyone had
an opinion.
It was this sort of on-campus participation that characterized
UCLA during the past year. Maybe it characterized the past two
years. To tell you the truth, I was too involved in my own
priorities to notice. During my first year at UCLA, I was far too
concerned with fitting in, getting the grades to get into my major
and participating in extracurricular activities merely to stem off
impending bouts of boredom. My perspective was only wide enough to
accommodate those events and individuals that directly impacted my
life. I was naive in that way; my self-imposed blinders didn’t
allow me to see much else.
Maybe it was the politically charged climate of the last year
that got me to snap out of it. Maybe it was the amazing people I
met and debated with. But, somewhere along the way, I realized that
being a part of the university means more than being a mere
student. We all know how to earn stellar grades and win awards –
that’s how we got here. But academics shouldn’t be the only
education you take away from UCLA; your real education comes with
the experiences you have and the people you meet outside the
classroom.
During your time at UCLA, you will learn more from the people
you meet and the activities in which you participate; when you look
back on your four years, it will be these experiences which are
most vivid. You will interact with people who challenge your
beliefs. You will encounter situations which test your resilience.
You will foster friendships which will be nurtured over your
lifetime. You too will find something to care about. To me, this
self discovery, this constant realignment of relationships and
viewpoints – this is what being a student at UCLA is all about.
UCLA is a serious academic institution situated in a sprawling
metropolis, inhabited by students of diverse racial, political and
financial backgrounds – what environment could provide a better
catalyst for investigation, criticism and alliance formation? Every
university offers classes; not every institution offers a student
body so anxious to speak their minds and battle opposing views.
So, when you become annoyed with the solicitors on Bruin Walk,
or hear yourself criticizing the inane opinions of speakers in
Westwood Plaza, take a minute to respect their passions – not
necessarily their beliefs, but their compulsion to recruit you or
sway you to feel what they feel.
For it is these people who sponsor this atmosphere of discourse
which define the UCLA experience.
One day it might be you on the megaphone. One day you may
struggle to break out of the academic mold. Hope that others
respect your right to do more than shuffle papers and memorize
formulas.
University life is much more than your GPA. The university is
the one place where when you speak and someone out of 35,000
students actually listens.
Make the most of your time here: speak up already.
Perera is a third-year communication studies student. E-mail her
at [email protected].