By Michael Walsh
Upon registering for the spring 2011 semester I realized that using the word classes to describe my schedule would be overkill.
To my surprise, I only need one more class to complete my cinema studies minor. Combined with a journalism internship, I’ll have achieved all the credits necessary to receive a wonderful diploma from Central Connecticut State University.
Partial excitement for the future and partial fear of the real world set in at that realizing moment, but perhaps nothing was more thought about than the reflection and self-analysis of my time spent at CCSU.
I planned big things out of high school. I initially went to St. John’s University in Queens, N.Y. to major in who knows what. After realizing I hated being away from home, I found myself here at CCSU taking two classes as a part time student. I was completely unaware that I would even stick around at the school 15 minutes away from where I grew up. But I’m glad I did.
CCSU, believe it or not, is the kind of school that creates the opportunities that at larger schools are more restrictive and much more difficult to achieve. While that’s not to say that someone with the right set of skills and ambition can’t achieve those opportunities, it’s clear to me that a school like CCSU makes them much more accessible and attainable.
And that’s why whenever I hear someone speak ill of the school that I’ve gotten so much out of, I can’t help but wonder what that person has put into it. A university, no matter how illustrious of a name it carries, is only worth what you want it to be.
Log on to Twitter or Facebook, search for the CCSU hashtag and read. You’ll see countless attacks at the institution, from very specific professor-related words to play on the CCSU name. ‘CCFU’ or ‘CCSUCKS,’ anyone?
There are countless individuals that I’ve met and come across in my now five years at this university that have put every aspect of the school to their use to create the most beneficial learning experience and atmosphere for themselves, and I haven’t heard a word of displeasure from them, aside from the playful joke or two.
For example, a spot as a senator on the student government association at CCSU is not the most difficult position to come by. This isn’t to diminish the value of these positions, it’s just the blatant truth. The students who take advantage of the rest of CCSU’s sleeping student body should be applauded. But when the SGA president wins a race with only 400 votes, you know something is wrong with the enthusiasm of the majority of CCSU.
At a commuter heavy and working class school like CCSU, it’s easy for students to get caught up in a go to class and go home motto. As soon as that last class of the day ends, students tend jet off the campus to head home or go to work, leaving an empty void in the participation of students on this campus and community. It’s a serious problem at CCSU, and perhaps one of the main reasons as to why you find so many people incorrectly considering CCSU to be a school you settle for rather than a school you strive for.
But CCSU offers so much to students in terms of out of classroom experience, and an apathetic and hateful gaze towards your very own academic university is not going to be conducive towards you taking advantage of any of that. The countless clubs, groups and media outlets created, maintained and designed by students are here to broaden your horizon, and give you the experience you simply cannot achieve through a textbook.
While walking around campus I notice and appreciate those people that are taking advantage of CCSU’s offerings and their efforts to improve the university as a whole. If you aren’t already, you might want to jump on the spirited ‘get involved’ wagon before it’s too late and you’re left wondering where your college career went.