Angles : What I learned in college . . . and what I didn’t

What Augustana didn't teach me

By Louisa Shaw

Mirror Guest Writer

Upon graduating from Augustana in December of 2009, I was ready for the "real" world.

I had my degree and was prepared for the next step, for the next piece of my life's puzzle to be placed.

Resume in hand, I quickly found a teaching job, no doubt due greatly to my Augustana education, and soon fell into the routine of the working world.

Thus far in life, what Augustana had taught me was evident—how to get a job, write a resume, act professionally, answer interview questions with poise, understand the expectations of my first job.

I radiated a sense of certainty at this point because I was doing what Augustana and my parents had told me I was supposed to do.

The expectations had been met, the grades written down, the recognition received, but I soon found myself asking, "Is this it? Am I done now? Is this really the rest of my life?"

I began to feel trapped. I felt like I was suffocating within the boundaries of the definite expectations that had so far guided me. What was I supposed to do now?

Augustana taught me how to survive on solid ground, but never in quicksand. It did not take me long to realize the "real" world Augustana had prepared me for was nonexistent—there is no such thing as solid ground.

I am grateful to Augustana for offering me a place where the illusion of certainty was strong enough to carry me through such a chaotic age of life, but I am now learning just how hard it is to overcome that illusion once living outside the walls of the college experience.

I have had to learn to admit that uncertainty is not necessarily a negative thing, and that, in fact, it is always an opportunity to cultivate new and more effective ways of thinking.

This process has proved to be incredibly challenging given the circumstances of today's quicksand world, a world riddled with societies that cannot seem to handle the weight of uncertainty in any positive way.

Uncertainty is simply unacceptable and action is usually taken against it, as I have watched happen in Libya in recent weeks.

We are at a critical point in our history where embracing uncertainty and the opportunities it can present are seemingly the only hopes for survival.

What Augustana did not teach me is how to survive this new narration.

What Augustana did teach me

By Bob Wendland

Mirror Guest Writer

A year ago I was a senior fretting about life after Augustana. Today it is still a little unnerving knowing that the job market is less than spectacular.

With all of the activities I was involved in and the courseload I was bearing, there was little time to think about how scary real life could be.

But here I am, basking in the vicious rays of reality, and somehow I am making it through just fine.

Call it naivety, call it blind optimism, call it what you will, but I have found myself to be rather resilient with the rejection and down-in-the-dumps attitude of the outside world.

It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of on-campus events, brand-new friendships, and rousing games of Beer Pong (after you've turned 21 and have ventured away from Augie's oh-so-dry campus, of course!) when you're nestled between Grange and Summit.

Augustana may not have taught me how to throw a football, but I have an aversion to astroturf, so that may have been more my fault.

And I definitely didn't learn a thing in my Quantitative Reasoning course, but the class was at 8 in the morning in a dingy basement so I did catch up on the sleep I didn't get the night before. And yet, I really don't feel any less educated.

Among the lessons in world religion, British literature and Grassroots theatre, perhaps one of Ole's most important gifts to me was the four-year-long seminar in patience.

Over my four years at Augie I was met with disappointment and obstacles more often than I would have liked, but finding a way to change negativity and doubt into confidence and success was easy to do in an atmosphere such as Augie's. 

Surrounded by peers who know how to brighten a gloomy day, professors who genuinely care, and Nancy in the Huddle, how could one not spend day after day walking on air?

In a unique way, Augustana taught me to accept the cards I was dealt and end up with a Royal Flush.

Patience was something I was taught in the classroom, on the stage, out with friends and under piles of homework.

Whether it was a mediocre grade on a midterm, an all-nighter studying for a biology exam or a ‘dysfunctional' alarm clock, I came to realize that there would always be a chance at redemption.

Patience is a virtue, and this virtue is found throughout every inch of Augustana.