As I think back on my undergraduate years, I have visions of
late-night studying ““ sometimes for classes that I loved and
sometimes for those that I endured.
I think of volunteering as a tutor for children at a local
homeless shelter, seeing their great potential and knowing that for
most of them, their future educational opportunities would be less
than what I deem acceptable.
I think about the students who were my fellow staff members, who
challenged me to think about issues from different
perspectives.
I think of my old professor, who told me as a sophomore that I
should really be going to graduate school for a doctorate. She was
the first person ever to say such a thing to me.
Hmmm, I wondered, what did one do with a doctorate?
Neither of my parents attended a university, so I was determined
to make the most of my college experience; I worked hard to get
there, and I was aware that it was a privilege to attend the
University of California.
I, like most incoming students, had very little idea of what I
wanted to do when I graduated ““ I just knew I didn’t
want to look back with regrets of missed opportunities. Upon my
graduation, I had studied in Mexico, participated in the UC
Washington, D.C., program, had been a student coordinator for
orientation programs, and had a scholarship to pursue my
master’s in social policy.
I can hear the old adage, “The college years are the best
years of your life.” Well, 10 years later, I can say I
don’t agree ““ not because they aren’t amazing
years of growth and exploration ““ but because it is up to us
as individuals to continue to lead rich and meaningful lives.
College is only the beginning.
I fell in love with the process of learning during my
undergraduate years. I was able to embrace my instincts to pursue
and critique, rather than fear, the unknown. And it was this
holistic experience of college that ultimately led me back to the
university, this time as an admissions counselor for the UC.
How does a person who is already passionate about the power of
higher education become even more passionate? For me, it was
visiting high schools throughout California and seeing the great
inequities in learning opportunities.
Well, I decided that to effectively engage in the issues that I
felt most passionate about, I would need a doctorate in education.
I had finally figured out what the doctorate that my professor had
mentioned to me all those years ago might be good for. So here I am
back at UCLA.
I reflect on my own undergraduate experience to convey the
importance of following one’s passions ““ even when your
ultimate destination is unclear.
In her book, “Teaching to Transgress: Education as the
Practice of Freedom,” bell hooks says of her own experiences
as a student, “Our notions of social change were not fancy.
There was no elaborate postmodern political theory shaping our
actions. We were simply trying to change the way we went about our
everyday lives.”
My university experience pushed me to develop a vision of what
kind of change I wanted to see in society and enabled me to
critically reflect on what that meant for how I lived. It has been
10 years since I obtained my undergraduate degree, and I still
believe that if you stay committed to your values, the path you
take after college will inevitably be the right one.
Anderson is the 2004-2005 University of California student
regent.