“What did you learn today?” Unfortunately,
I have been asked this question almost everyday of my life since about age
seven. Each afternoon these were
the first five words out of my mother’s excited mouth as I jumped in the car
and drove away from school. This
was my cue to sigh, sling my heavy backpack in the seat behind me, and
obligatorily reply, “nothing.”
This was our ritual.
Everyday she asked the identical question, and everyday I repetitively
responded with the identical answer.
That is the funny thing about learning. Oftentimes valuable learning is something that happens over
an extended period of time, not simply in one afternoon of classes. Although “What did you learn today?” is
a valuable question, it has become almost unbearingly watered down. So when the scope of the question is suddenly
changed, forcing me to reflect on an entire semester of learning, I initially
felt stumped, before realizing that reflecting on learning is sometimes just as
valuable as the learning itself.
Thus, I present to you an essay reflecting my learning throughout this
semester.
Firstly,
I learned that only 3.7 percent of criminals actually go to jail. I learned this stunning fact in my
Introduction to Criminal Justice class.
This is due to what is called the “Crime Funnel,” which essentially
means that only fifty percent of crimes are reported, and only fourteen percent
of reported crimes lead to arrest.
By the time these criminals are prosecuted and convicted, just under
four percent actually remain in the criminal justice system long enough to make
it to jail. This fact simply
stunned my naïve, sophomoric mind.
In part, this was due to my sheltered upbringing. Having never been exposed first hand to
a life of crime, I simply assumed the majority of criminals were caught and
sent to an appropriate place in which to correct their wayward behavior
(presumably jail or prison, however I regret to inform you that I still have
not learned the difference between the two). Secondly, my incredulousness was due to my assumption that crime
shows accurately depict the goings on of police departments. Apparently not all crime involves
gruesome murders of passion, and not all police officers have access to
horrifying databases containing every human’s fingerprint, mug shot, sperm (if
applicable) and address. Lastly, I
blame my naïveté on TCU’s inability to use discretion when blasting crime
emails to the entire student body.
Before coming to TCU, I was unaware that a brief slap on the thigh was
worthy of a criminal investigation from the TCU Police Department, but I was regretfully
misinformed. I now know that when
“a high school aged male slaps a student by running up from behind her and
slapping her on the thigh and then running off laughing” is a serious matter,
and must be reported immediately.
Having known this before last semester, I would have been much less
horrified that real criminals are hardly ever reported or sent to jail. Clearly, my experiences with petty TCU
crime alerts involving thigh slaps are nowhere close to actual criminal
statistics, making learning about those real criminal statistics that much more
interesting and mindset changing. This
was the first of many things I learned this semester.
Secondly,
I have learned that twerking is never socially acceptable, but always socially
appreciated. By this, I simply
mean that when one does outrageous acts in public, most people’s initial
response is something along the lines of, “How inappropriate!” Society does not deem these acts
socially acceptable. They are
considered wrong, even trashy or unbecoming. However, people love to gawk; they love to judge; and they
love to gossip. They appreciate someone
who willingly becomes the subject of said gawking, judging, and gossiping. I do not know why I just discovered
this principle of human interaction this year, but it has only dawned on me
during the recent Miley Cyrus publicity stunts. As she twerked and thrusted and questionably danced on stage
at the Video Music Awards, my roommates and I sat aghast at her
performance. No, we did not
condone her behavior. No, we did
not think it appropriate. No, we
did not agree with the image she was projecting, but did that stop us from
talking about it for weeks? Did that stop us from watching her infamous music
videos on a daily basis in our living room? Did that stop us from googling “How
to twerk” videos? The slightly pathetic answer to all of the above questions remains
a resounding no. So after having
experienced this Miley Cyrus media explosion, I came to the conclusion that I
presented previously, that twerking, or doing anything that walks the line
between edgy and insane for that matter, is never socially acceptable, but
always socially appreciated. This
is the second thing that I have learned throughout this past semester
Lastly,
I have learned that eating alone does not make you utterly strange. I admit, there were times Freshmen year
when my class schedule just didn’t match up with anyone else’s that I knew, or when
my hunger cycles just didn’t correspond with my fifteen new best friends’
hunger cycles. Not wanting to
endure the painful embarrassment of sitting alone at the BLUU, I would opt just
not to eat instead. I would sit in
my dorm doing homework, pretending that my stomach wasn’t screaming at me for
sustenance. Frankly, not eating
was a terrible choice, especially considering ballet majors are required dance
up to eight hours some days. So
there I was, skipping lunch or dinner and exhausting myself in the studio that night
with no food in my system to energize me.
This year is different, however.
I’m now confident in my place at TCU, my friends, and my life. I have realized that I never judge
those who sit alone at the BLUU.
Rather, I assume that they are in a hurry, or have work to do, or just
happen to have busy friends.
Sitting with that random girl from that random core class while you both
shovel mystery meat silently into your mouths is honestly more awkward than
just sitting by yourself. By
sophomore year, the pressure is off.
Eat all the mystery meat you want.
Listen to your iPod, or pretend like you’re texting someone
extraordinarily important, or sit with your laptop open to facebook instead of
those notes that you pretend you’re studying. Therefore, not just being independent, but being confident
in your independence is a critical step in maturing during college years, and
in a small way, I think I have begun to make that change this semester. If being comfortable eating in the BLUU
alone is the first step in that process, then bring on the solo dinner
dates. I am ready.
Admittedly,
criminal justice, twerking, and solo meals do not seem to have much to do with
each other. Frankly, they are
sporadic nuggets of information that I concluded were interesting enough to
include in this paper. However,
while attempting to summarize my thoughts on this knowledge in a final
paragraph, I have found something interesting. All these things I have learned this semester involve my
mind maturing in a new and independent way. I have critically looked at facts I learned in class,
applied them to the world that I know, and adjusted my worldly perspective
accordingly if the facts did not fit.
I have critically looked at my society and observed patterns and trends
that seem interesting to me.
Lastly, I have critically looked at my own confidence in becoming more
independent and have adjusted my behavior to become more like the self-confident
woman I wish to be. These three
facts I have learned throughout this semester all center around changing my
perspective regarding society or even myself. I have opened my mind, seen aspects of the world around me,
and enjoyed every minute of it. The strange thing is, if my mother were to have asked me
“What have you learned this semester?” recently, I do not think I could have
come up with a response that remotely involved the contents of this paper. However, being forced to write out an
answer truly has inspired me to think more critically about what I learn on a
daily basis and how that slowly changes my perspective on life. Who knew this essay would end up with
such profound meaning? Not I.
