When people ask me how school is, my answer is usually, I’m surviving. I’m surviving. Not thriving, not wonderful, not here are all of the things I am learning. I’m surviving. It’s the trademark answer of a college student. It is the easy answer, similar to “I’m fine.” or “I’m okay.” Everyone knows there is more behind those answers. I am exhausted from surviving. Tired of saying it and tired of hearing. Why is this the best we can come up with? Where is the flaw in the system? 

I am attending EMU to get a degree, something I hope and plan to use in the future. How am I supposed to do that when I cannot remember what I learned just one semester ago? My professors seem to be encouraging memorization rather than curiosity. I feel like I am not gaining any constructive knowledge from this experience, other than time-management. 

Not only will I be going into the “real world” with massive amounts of debt, but for the most part already exhausted with my subject of study. The content of my classes is interesting but there is not enough time for me to soak up that content. What about the old saying “less is more”? This sounds like I am looking for more free-time, and while that may be true, I mainly want more time to process what I am supposed to be learning. More time to be like a sponge and soak up the knowledge on my plate. 

When I complain about being stressed, overwhelmed, and tired of my classes, I frequently hear the phrase, “well that’s what you signed up for.” I feel like there is a disconnect here. Education should not be about stress and overwhelmed feelings, it should be about curiosity and learning and being engaged in the world. 

I want to be taking action rather than reading as much as possible. I am ready to learn about real people participating in my field of study right now, in 2022. I am tired of hearing about all the old white men who got half of it wrong centuries ago. I want to see the women, the people of color, the LGBTQ members, the innovators, the people that I might even meet going into my field. The ones making a difference right now.

There are many things that EMU, as an institution, does well, but there are pieces of the system of higher education that EMU continues to subscribe to:  expensive tuition, not supporting undecided students, quantity over quality, following the money, and not reading the student paper.  

I am ready to be learning;. I am ready for massive discussions about heavy topics;. I am ready for time to process information;. I am ready for institutional support of the student body. I am ready to receive what I am paying for.