By Fallon Head | Web Editor
We tend to get lost in the cycle of sleep, lectures, homework, work, time with friends, eating and handling it all as quickly as possible, hoping to have some time to relax. To get that rare free time, corners are cut, multitasking is nonstop and there’s rarely time to sit and reflect on all that our brains consume in a day.
College is a specific opportunity where you spend time away from the people and community you grew up with, are surrounded by intelligent people and have direct, easy access to sources, experts and books with so much information.
Universities are designed to be a place of discussion and intellectual thought. The only way to achieve either is by welcoming differing opinions and new information. The issue is, neither of those things comes easily. People like to put things in familiar, assigned boxes, sticking to what we know and what seems comfortable. Oftentimes, when someone doesn’t look like us, sound like us or think like us, it’s a gut reaction to dismiss, hate and lash out.
Having an emotional response means there’s something from a person’s own life that’s causing it. According to Swiss Medical Weekly, increased emotion prompts the brain to pay closer attention. Anytime there’s a strong emotional response to a piece of information, it’s a signal that there should be purposeful reflection on why the emotional response that made the focus on the information to begin with stood out.
Taking the time to understand the why of that math equation, reading the entire assigned reading and fully embracing the thought exercise of that essay results in long-term understanding of the content.
Knowing why you believe something also allows you to discuss it with others in coherent, logical and empathetic arguments.
As the United Nations said, “Diversity of humanity is our greatest strength.” It’s a strength because the different backgrounds, skills, races, religions, sexes, genders and sexual orientations allow us not only to build on each other’s skills and processes, but also to grow in understanding.
I’ve sat in a history course and listened as shock rippled through the room at different historical details. I’ve read primary documents detailing tragedy and victory alike. I’ve watched as my classmates and I grew a more well-rounded view of different movements. Simultaneously, I’ve listened to people, every so often, who miss the entire point.
People will ask questions trying to make sense of someone’s motivations or choices for something that seems so short-sighted or clearly biased, just for a keyword or some phrase that’s strung along in current day politics, and they totally dismiss it with things like “Oh, so like today?” or “Well, my dad talks about that, and it seems OK.”
Or people store the information for the test, take the time to memorize the ins and outs of people’s lives or significant events, and never take the two steps left to realize the relevance of current-day politics, events and their own lives.
Similarly, I’ve watched from the back of my Christian Scriptures class as people who grew up going to church had to process the actual text beyond what a priest or pastor told them. I’ve watched as others and I in the room with less knowledge of Christianity gain a better understanding of what drives so many people’s decisions and beliefs. The course is a requirement not just to educate people who don’t know much about Christianity, but also to make Baylor students who already know the Bible on a surface level gain context and properly sit with the text they try to center their beliefs around.
In one semester, I have learned more about myself than I ever imagined I could in such a short amount of time. However, I learned half of it by taking the time to reflect on my responses, doing more research when something stuck with me and being willing to hear people out on things we disagree on. We’re paying thousands of dollars a semester to learn, so learn. Not just what’s convenient or what agrees with you, but all of it.
