College: The Nurture Aspect

           
              Charles Blow writes an article using personal anecdote and research statistics to make his point that college students are not feeling the 'love' from their professors, rather they are getting the cold shoulder. For college students, freshmen in particular, some guidance is necessary as they make one of the most important transitions of their life. Jumping from the relative ease of high school to the hectic hustle and bustle of college life may leave many students helpless and caught up in the crowd. Generally, they forget to pay as much attention as they would like to the very reason they are in college: studying. Now, it isn't the professor's job to keep track of how a student spends his/her time, but I would say that they definitely should have a conscience that is aware of student morale in class.
               I feel that college professors should make an attempt to create an atmosphere, at least for freshman classes, that resemble partly what they had experienced in high school. This would be reminiscent of the more compact, personal interaction students generally have with high school teachers. Closer interactions would make the student feel less lost and more comfortable with college. Yes, this is hard to achieve as classes may be very large, but the effort itself makes huge strides in student morale. Relief that the professor is not a heartless vampire is a success in the life of most students.
               The next step is actually developing the students. Each and every student is capable, that is why they are in college. Education, important as it is, doesn't necessarily have to be the only aspect in which the student has to feel accomplished. Simply being able to enjoy and live the experience of college, as well as maturing as a person are just as important. Knowing that professors, your elders, make an effort to actually talk to you or guide you through college, goes a long way in nurturing the young college student.

Example: Thanks to Mr.White, even my blog post starts out like a rhetorical analysis(that's a good thing;good habit). 

The Crowd

7 billion people on this planet. Each one of have our own goals and ambitions. All of us have to work to get close to fulfilling them. Most of us are fortunate enough to be middle class and have the opportunity to live with relative ease. We live in big cities where there isn’t enough space to efficiently travel in cars. The majority travel by foot, and with that many people living the same place as you, thinking the same way as you, you’re bound to be part of a crowd that’s moving in the same direction as you. Or is it the other way around? Are you moving in the same direction as the crowd?

            You’re probably in an indignant state, repulsed by the notion of being accused of “following the buzzards”. That is the crowd getting to you. It clouds your independent cognitive functions, brainwashing you of all that you know is right. You are trained to go along with whatever everyone does. Trends dictate your life. “Buy these clothes.””Wear them like this.””Walk like this.””Live like this.” Do you not see what is going on around you? If you start to recognize this superficiality, and voice your opinion within the crowd, you will be shunned down to the curb. The crowd has no feelings. The crowd has no moral consciousness. The crowd will not acknowledge you for who you are. You cannot look for validation from the crowd, you cannot think of the crowd as human.

            You are beyond the crowd. You are an individual. You make up the crowd, without you it cannot exist. So, never submerge into the conformity that makes up a crowd; be yourself, and you will raise a crowd. Be yourself, and you will be free. Be yourself, and you will have lived.

            The crowd is cruel; it is unforgiving. That is because it has no heart; it lacks the very essence that drives each and every one of us, drives us to newer heights each and every day.  

" I remember..."

           "I remember!” *bang**gunshot*.  The man was shot dead just as he was about to remember. Remember what, you ask? Why, it could have been anything. We can simply speculate. He could have remembered that he had to go grocery shopping. He could have remembered that he had a long-lost brother. He could have remembered that his birthday was yesterday. Or even worse, he could have remembered that his wife’s birthday was yesterday.  He could have remembered the word that he was always thinking of but always seemed to forget. He could have remembered that he was always forgetting everything and that he should write down the important thing that he had just remembered.

            

          The question arises as to why he was shot. Police had caught the murderer and conducted a ‘thorough’ interrogation. Apparently the killer had sworn that he had lost all his memory and was then acquitted through the insanity clause of the US Supreme Court. But that’s not important.  The man’s death had been pre-arranged by the Russian mafia, although no one knew why they would go to such lengths to kill an ordinary citizen. Even the mafia claim that they don’t remember the reason. The man had no records of criminal activity, no records of extreme wealth. He had not been known to be smarter than the average bloke, let alone of worth to the mafia. Doctors claim that he even had an extremely rare case of Alzheimer’s, concocted at the ripe age of forty, which is why he supposedly couldn't remember anything. 

            

          The people of his town proceeded to encase the man in a coffin, and carried him to a church to perform his funeral. However, when they got there, they all realized that no one remembered the man’s name. Already in a state of disarray, the people were mortified when the lid of the coffin slid open, and the man stepped out, in an exquisite suit.

“The name’s Bond. James Bond.”

Fire

       Fire most definitely eradicates. It incinerates everything that it caresses. It leaves nothing behind but ashes. It is a common conception that fire is extinguished when water sputters it out or it runs out of material to devour. That couldn't be further than the truth. Fire never "goes out". It is always alive, within each and every living being.

Fire is what drives you to do something, nay, fire is the drive. Desires would simply remain desires if there was no fire to give life to them. Actions that we do are a result of the fire inside us. We never realize it; like puppets of society we believe that our desires are the only cause of action. Rather, desires fuel the fire within us. Fire is the essence of us. It is what makes us alive, makes us do what we do, makes us experience what we experience. It is there through thick and thin. It never leaves us alone. It constitutes us, from the time that we are little Charmanders to when we gain enough experience to evolve into Charizards. It has the answer to every solution. It is everything you need it to be, but the most important thing that it is: it is inside. We just have to find it.

If you do, you will realize that it doesn't matter if the fires outside of you diminish, and you can't see any light around you. You don't need other fires; you have your own. You can do anything that you put your mind to, because you have your own fire. You are your own light. Thus, you can fulfill your desires, whether it is to improve yourself, accomplish a goal, or make something. Whatever it is, it is change. It is a creation, as a result of your fire. Who said that fire only razes? On the contrary, Fire brings into existence whatever you wish, with your cooperation. Your Fire is your best friend. Your coach. Your most devoted assistant.

Fire is Heat.
Fire is Energy.
Fire is Strength.

Fire is Life.