HOLDING HANDS WITH A “STRANGER”
Dear Editor:
You never know when you are going to be inspired by somethingsmall and unexpected.
After a long night and early morning I was impacted in a sort ofunexpected way. I was sitting in Hughes Trigg tired, bored, lazyand uninterested in the thought of moving, when all of a sudden,speakers including President Turner, Thomas Kincaid and othersabruptly appeared before my sleepy eyes.
Being Martin Luther King week, the MLK committee brought amotivational series to all SMU students.
I estimate that no more than 150 students showed up for thelunchtime pep talk, but I wish more had taken the time to enjoythis time of reflection or, like me, accidentally stumbled uponsomething wonderful and new.
At first I wasn’t paying full attention to anything otherthan the open table of free cookies, but I could hear the speakersthrough the small crowd.
I was still unaware of what was going on until I heard someonemention the need and desire for unity on campus and how”student development can increase the quality oflife.”
They mentioned the need for diversification among students andthey encouraged us to reach out of our shells and really experiencelife, education and friendship.
These speeches made me realize how important diversity is andhow grateful I should be for the opportunities I have been givenhere at SMU.
I hear and read so many negative thoughts about SMU, which Ihave tried so hard to ignore, but in reality, these complaints canbe erased and not just ignored if we would act on them.
In retrospect, it surprises me how much I have been able tochange in the past few years for several reasons including myfriends, experiences and regrets.
I went to a completely white high school and never realized howdeprived I was of true education. I was living in a‘bubble’ where I didn’t realize that school ismore than just going to class, taking tests, and graduating.
Now that I am in my junior year, I reflect on the people in mylife that I might not have ever met, and it’s a cruel realitythat many students have not reached out and experienced the trueeducation that SMU offers.
The real reason that I am writing this is because at the closingof the ceremony, after hearing an amazing song inspired by MartinLuther King, we closed in prayer (something I haven’t done inway too long). I held hands with two people I have never metbefore, including a professor and another student, both of whom Iwill probably never forget.
I really don’t think that it was the speeches that soinclined me to write this. I think it was the look on the faces ofmy new friends that I some how randomly discovered in the middle ofHughes Trigg in the middle of the day.
I guess the moral of the story is to keep your eyes and mindopen, you may be surprised.
Kelly Larkan
