The Ole College Try

In college, I learned to think for myself.  I began to separate what was really my opinion from the ideas that had been unfairly thrust upon me during my socialization and indoctrination as a young person.  In turn, I began to respect and appreciate others' opinions, to recognize my own ignorance, and to treasure everyone's intellectual journey as unique.  I began to write long, fancy sentences that sounded smart.

In return for this gift of an expanded cerebrus (and made-up vocabulary), my parents, the trustees, the federal government, the South Carolina Student Loan Corporation, the Daughters of the American Revolution, St John's Baptist Church, and I paid Furman University about $135,000.  Now, Furman University is giving back.  Take a gander at page 25 from this winter's issue of Furman Magazine:

See it?  See it?  Okay, so maybe you don't.  But again, if there's anything I learned during that same college education, it's that multiple opinions can be simultaneously valid, that through confirmation bias we so often see what we want to see, not what is actually right in front of us.  Still, take another look. 

No? 

Look, you really need to consider my perspective on this page.  Try again.

NO?!

Fine.  Let me shove your face in it.  Here's what I see when I look at page 25:

And that is the right thing to see.  Period.

I'm so glad I went to college.

Now if only I could sell 120 books a day.  I could start to pay off that student loan debt . . .