Deja Vu All Over Again
Haven't I been here before?
I sat through my fifth ‘welcome to uni’ speech this week.
That was, uh, different, to say the least. I seriously could have stood up and given probably 75% of the orientation class myself; maybe that’s not too much of an accomplishment, as there’s only so many ways to say, ‘study hard and enjoy your time, you’ll look back on these days later!’
Of course, I’m living embodiment that you might not only look back on these days — you might get to do it all over again.
And if repetition does indeed aid learning, I should hope I’ve gained some macro-level insights. After one week back (again) at uni, here’s five observations:
Your brain retains more than you think.
My last university stint stopped in 2020; that was a research degree, so the last proper taught program I undertook was back in 2016. There’s always a concern, when you take classes, that you won’t really remember much anyways — so why bother?
Well, I sat through a freshman Greek course this week. And while I’m sure there’s a lot I’ll have to relearn, I had the unexpected thrill of literally feeling old knowledge come to the surface again. There was the alphabet — alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon — but I’d honestly expected that. Less expected was the feeling of the noun declensions coming back, the old feminine alpha patterns bubbling up a half-second before the professor wrote them on the board.
Greek, I’ll point out, was nearly 20 years ago for me. It will get harder, and I will realize there’s a LOT I’ve forgotten.
But for this first week, at least, the memory kicked in, and that was a nice feeling.
FREEBIES.
Free books. I came home with probably 20 of them. I’d missed the perks of being a student — and I will say, I think those perks have improved a bit over the decades.
Sharp minds sharpen minds.
‘Iron sharpens iron’ is the biblical proverb, and that’s certainly true in academia. Much of the value really does derive from your classmates. If you’re in a smaller setting — Edinburgh Theological Seminary has a handful over 100 students, all-in — then there’s a correspondingly greater chance to interact with and sharpen your fellow classmates.
I can easily say that I learned more in the first week from a couple of hours discussing pastoral issues and various theological aspects with a new friend and classmate than I did in the hours of lectures. That’s not dissing the lectures — I learned there too! But I learned more from bandying words about. And on that note…
Age does give insight.
I’m certainly approaching classes differently this time around. I’m more focused; I’m also less concerned about chasing every random opportunity. I know to look for those ‘outside-the-classroom’ chances; I’m keen to find those and double-down on them.
I’m not afraid to ask questions. ‘You have not, because you ask not’ applies to far more than simply our prayers. Want a good score on an assessment? Ask the teacher directly — ‘what do you like to see’? Chanes are, they’ll tell you.
Be essential.
It may be worth busting your butt to achieve near-perfect scores.
It may not.
In my case, I have a large family, an amazing wife, a handful of good friends, a church that absorbs much of my focus, and a few hobbies that I’d dearly like to get back into.
I need this degree, yes — but I don’t need it so much that everything else takes a back seat. I’m not a no-strings-attached 18-year-old freshman, and I’m taking a different approach because of it. What’s essential? That’s what I need to do.
Here we go again (and again, and again, and again, and again).
What will the Lord do this time?