Use those University dollars to travel the world
When I consider advice I would give to a
prospective student of secondary education, 1
come to one conclusion: Take the thousands of
dollars for tuition and do with it what you will. I
suggest buying a plane ticket. It doesn’t matter
where you go, or what you do, but before con
signing yourself to four years of academic servi
tude, see and experience the world.
Now don’t misunderstand me: The University
has excellent opportunities to study abroad, and
a college degree is an important piece of paper
to frame and put on your wall, yet having gone
through the motions of higher education, I’ve
come to reflect on certain aspects of this thing
called “college.” The majority of us enter college
at age 18 with our knowledge of the world limit
ed to our naive conceptions based on high
school experiences. The general solution is
to stick thousands of clueless 18-year-olds
in close proximity to each other, forbid them
to drink alcohol or do anything remotely
illegal and order them to pursue a “valuable”
and “necessary” education.
American culture has developed the delusion
that a college education is required to become a
contributing member of society. While traveling,
I met about 10 Americans of the 18-24 demo
graphic. I guess the other 10 million were back
in America studying for classes. I also met
countless Europeans and individuals of other
nationalities, all within this same age group and
all experiencing what the world had to offer.
vv lien i a^ivcu 11 uicy u gunc ivj cui
lege, or if they intended to, most
shrugged or nonchalantly said they
might “try it” some day.
This left me with a question.
Who is learning more? Do I benefit
from buying a $200 math book? Or
should I buy a Greyhound bus tick
et and ride across the country? Or
gu arvyuivmgi ui nuy a picnic uuwii
to San Francisco? When I returned from my
travels, I began to feel like college was a smoth
ering blanket that had been thrown over the last
four years of my life. I wanted to breathe, and I
couldn’t do it at a university.
And yet, I’ve met and become acquainted
with some amazing people while at school. I’ve
enjoyed a multitude of great experiences. Left
with such irreconcilable feelings, I find myself
now wondering what constitutes a successful
youth. Does filling my head with mathematical
equations or literary theories constitute success?
Or is it the experiences that compose my life and
that have shaped who I have become? The
GREG BILSLAND
50RRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE
suLLtss uae iniub m me idiuiui
be quantified, yet I have found that
what I value is the didactic experi
ences of life and not the dry education
of a classroom.
Each person measures the success
of his or her own life. I think if I’d had
a little more time to consider this, be
fore plummeting into the depths of
mgnei euucdiion, me idsi iuui yeais
might have adopted a different course. My point
is, whether you’re entering, still attending or
leaving college, do with these years what you
want, not what your parents, friends, society or
culture tell you. Higher education is an invest
ment, but it is an investment that can wait.
jfm Vhnni uf Imtrn.ilism mo Cuimn«niwtion_2005_S4.00
Prospectors of the Pacific
A Home without Bordets
Falling Big for the little White
Waging Peace
Now on sale at the bookstore
Issue Thirteen Spring 2005
$4.00 / $3.00 with student ID
The online version of Flux, inFlux, is available at
http://influx.uoregon.edu/2005
Welcome to another
issue of the School
of Journalism and
Communication's Flux. This
year’s magazine focuses on
nonconformists who brazenly
challenge boundaries. Three
fishermen temper risk with
humor in their search for the
valuable Dungeness crab. In the
Belizean jungle, a tour guide
uses ecotourism and education
to protect the country’s precious
biodiversity. By retaining her
Mexican heritage, a young
woman fosters cultural pride in
her rural Latino community. And
a peacekeeper in the Middle East
exercises nonviolence to help
improve the lives of Iraqis.
This completely student
run magazine is designed to
showcase the exceptional talent
of the industry’s next leaders.
Creating a professional magazine
in seven short weeks gives
students the opportunity to build
a portfolio and gain experience
in what it’s really like to edit,
design, photograph, and write for
a premium publication.
It is my hope that these stories
inspire you as much as they have
spurred us to create a unique
magazine.
Catherine Ryan
Editor-In-Chief
SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM
AND COMMUNICATION
University ot Oregon
We've got sports
at www.dailyemerald.com
After four busy years,
Peter Leimena now gears
up for medical school
BY CHRIS COHOON
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
Patrons hover over the checkout
desk in the Knight Library, often
piling up enormous stacks of
books to be checked out. Although the
line of people grows, staff member Pe
ter Leimena greets every patron with a
beaming “hello” and a pondering,
“How are you doing today?”
Working at the library might seem
like a simple job for most students, but
when Leimena added hours of work
on top of being a Robert D. Clark Hon
ors College student, writing a thesis
and applying to medical school, life be
came a little hectic.
While many seniors graduating in
spring are busy preparing for the work
force, Leimena is trying to further pur
sue his education in the medical field.
“So far I haven’t got into the
18 medical schools that I applied for,
but I did get accepted into graduate
public health programs at New York
Medical College and George Washing
ton University,” he said.
Leimena said he has wanted to be a
doctor for as long as he can remember
and that his volunteer work has helped
support his dream. During summer
2003, Leimena paid $3,000 to volun
teer in Africa. He spent part of his time
on an island in Lake Victoria, Kenya,
where he helped run a free clinic.
“Huge amounts of people would
come through the clinic every day, and
this was a small island,” he said. “There
were only six students and one doctor,
so it was easy to attain experience. ”
Much bf Leimena’s trip was dedicat
ed to teaching health education to pri
mary school students. The common
lessons were about personal hygiene
and AIDS.
“The surprising thing about the
small island is that HIV is so prevalent
there,” Leimena said. “While there
LEIMENA, page 21B
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