Chancellor's Challenge: Write a convocation speech? Hmm!

So this is what I've got so far. Let me know what you think! (The details for the contest are here.)

Topic: What did you learn about yourself or others during your freshman year?

"What is learning? Is it the Saturday after when you wished “this and that”. Is it the Monday after that first Thursday night midterm, getting your exam back with as many percentage points correct as your milk has fat? Is it when you join your third student org and still haven’t read the last four weeks Native American literature assignments…and you end up being glad you did? Parents and teachers always tell us, “You’re here to learn.” But, learn what? How do we know if we have learned? How do we learn?

For me, learning started in my first week at Wisconsin. I had asked to hang out at this girl’s dorm, we have dinner, and then it’s the lakeshore walk. Guys, let me tell you seomthing about Lakeshore. This place can either be your best friend or your worst enemy, alright? We were just walking along after a nice dinner when BAM! She pops this crazy halfway hidden question on me, “So, are we dating?” Holy crap! Serious? I met you like 3 hours ago! Man, at that point, I was learning…or maybe, I was cramming. Or should’ve crammed before then, or something! My Psych reading was far from my mind. I was trying to avoid getting psyched by this girl’s sneaky query. “Uh…mm….hmm…” I mutter under my breath. I don’t think I even said anything. At all. That was definitely learning. On the Lakeshore note, fella’s, don’t go there unless you’re ready to get serious. Shoot, man. Totally off guard, I was about hung out to dry that night. Then I had to tell her, “Hey, I think I’m just gonna’ be friends with girls for now, is that alright?” in words far more staggered, stuttered and awkward than those, I’m sure of it. Maybe that was learning. Finding out that skipping out on Psychology reading for Sunday afternoon chat with a cute girl will only wind you up in awkward DTR’s (define the relationship’s) sending you into that “fight or flight” you were just learning about.

Maybe it was learning when I took my first midterm…and failed. I thought I was ready. I thought I had learned. I hadn’t learned to check the whole test (there was a back page with 25 pts.!) or learned what a t-i-m-e l-i-m-i-t was. Turns out I needed those 35 points!

What is learning? Webster says, --forget Webster. We heard what Webster says in our high school graduations. Now, we’re in college. What is learning, really? For me, it’s those times I stop and in a thoughtful moment realize, “Oh. That’s why ______.” (That’s why…I call a friend if I’m coming home late, I go out with people I trust, I stay in when the first two midterms weren’t making me too happy with school and I decide to kick some butt and…learn this stuff.)

Learning is experience. Experience with equations and authors and battles and short essay questions…

…and friends.

…and boyfriends or girlfriends.

…experiences that make us stop and think about the intricacies of life. That make us stop and think, “I’m glad I’m here.”

I don’t think it’s filling a page as it is filling a mind. It’s loving the class you’re getting a C in, because it means something to you. It’s getting deeper into things. Thinking, “why?” more.

It’s thinking for yourself, when you have so much before. It’s saying, “Why didn’t I do that?” and then doing it
...the next time. :: smile ::

(continued…)