July 28, 2003

Stuff That's Been Bugging Me...

Of late I've been guilty of merely providing a running commentary on the occurences in my life, so I will take a brief break and provide a small commentary on what I've been pondering on of late.

Losing people in your life sucks. If that's just that you move away from them for a couple of months (summer break), for an indefinite period (graduation, withdrawl from school and the like) or for a decidedly longer period (death) it is still a rather tragic occurence especially in the case of a good friend. This is one of the biggest problems with a specialized microcosm like a university. Undoubtedly you will meet many people, some of whom will become your friends. Every year, a group of these people moves away to possibly never be seen again this side of eternity. Every summer, you are separated from many of your friends for several months. And it would seem that nearly every break we have someone die. Granted, there are at least as many meetings as partings in the course of an education, but it would seem that the partings are more memorable because they're more traumatic.

Of course, a place like LeTourneau exacerbates this problem even more than a normal institution. With Bud perennially running the tuition up 5%, people start to be unable to afford the place. Add to that the environment where grace is all but absent in administrative interactions with students and a difficult academic setting that probably admits more students than it should, and you have a recipe for attrition. Not to say I have any grandiose solutions for this problem... I'm just saying it sucks.

Posted by Vengeful Cynic at July 28, 2003 12:16 PM