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 It's as if the fervor and angst of the 1960s have been replaced by the fury and activism of the '90s.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 maperera@ucla.edu.