My Mini Epiphany At Anderson University

We dropped off Taylor at Anderson University this weekend—this is the university where I went to school, although it was called Anderson “College” then and instead of computers and cell phones, the students had quill pens and an elaborate system of tin cans and strings.  (Yep, our technology and sophistication had progressed far beyond smoke signals.)

While Taylor was setting up his room as a learning environment designed for maximum academic achievement [“cough”…“cough”] I went walking around the campus, taking in the sights and sounds; feeling waves of memory roll over me.  I was stunned to find that one of the buildings even “smelled” exactly the same as it did when I was a student.  (Or, maybe it was that barefoot guy, it’s hard to say.)

Many of the students are back on campus after summer break, so as I walked around I would nod a greeting and smile.  I think I only frightened 3 or 4 of them.  (I’m basing that on the amount of pepper spray.)

I saw joggers.  I saw a couple holding hands and walking through the valley.  I saw a few small groups of students sitting around talking.  I saw people wandering aimlessly staring like dorks at everyone else…oh, wait a minute, that was me.

At one point, a group of girls walked past me and I recognized them.  They were the same girls who were on the campus back when I was a student 30-something years ago.  Well, that’s not exactly true, they were different girls.  But in a way, they were the same girls.  And then, very suddenly, as I looked around, I realized that all of the same students were there on the campus.

Before you call the authorities to have me turned in—which has already been tried twice—let me explain.  What I mean is that, in a general sense, there are “types” of people.  I don’t mean that we’re not all original, one-of-a-kind creations of God.  Of course we are.  It’s not my intention to be demeaning to anyone.  But it is still true that there is a sense in which there are certain types of people, who tend to “look” a certain way and who tend to “do” certain types of things.  I’m suggesting that as I walked my old campus, I saw all of those “types” from my college days, once again, as I looked at the current students.  I really did.  It was an odd and faintly amusing feeling.

I found myself chuckling as I looked around and this reality was confirmed to me more and more.

So much has changed since my time on campus, but you know, in a way, it is very much the same.  And all of the same people—come on, you know what I mean, by now—in a way, all of the same people are still there.

My walking experience, along with my realization that all of the same people are still there on campus, was sort of like a mini-epiphany for me.  (Can a person have a “MINI” epiphany?  I don’t know, but I’m claiming to have had one, so there!)  In fact, I was so taken with my new insight that upon returning to the room, I immediately shared it with Taylor and I could tell that he found the whole concept fascinating because of the distinctive sound and tonal quality of his snoring while I rambled on and on with this extraordinary theory.

Anyhow…did I mention how the room is set up for maximum academic achievement?  Okay, just checking.