At Antioch – Never Assume

Below is an entry I put in a comment to one of the our 3 adopted Antioch student’s LJ last fall. I wanted to repost it here in hopes other’s might see it and have comments to add to it. It’s a work in progress, maybe when it’s ripe I’ll send it in to the Antioch Record for publishing.

Inspired by Jamie Anderson‘s song of the same title, it’s advice to current students about how the campus works or does not work in my (biased (baya’sd?)) experience.

If you’ll learn anything at Antioch, you’ll learn to never assume;

(Cue music from ‘Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen‘ now)

* Never assume
* Never assume that anyones sexual preferences will remain the same when you return from coop. Also, never try to keep a mental list of said sexual preferences, that’ll drive you nuts.
* Never assume any particular friends will return from coop. If you care about them, get their home addresses, phone #’s, e-mails etc. Strange things happen, people don’t return for various reasons, even with the best of intentions. Friendships require some work to keep alive over the years, don’t assume you’ll just see each other in 3..6.. 9 months.. maybe next year. Sometimes they come back, sometimes they don’t.
* Never assume that you don’t need to write a self evaluation for a class cause the professor is going to write you a really good one.
* Never assume the college is fair to its workers but also never assume the various unions care about the college at all either. It’s an ongoing political and financial power battle that you don’t want to get mixed up in, suffice to say the students are the pawns in this whenever either side can use them to its advantage. This may seem weird and obscure now, but in the next few months, years at some point you’ll read something in the record about the caf workers asking for student support with their battle with the evil college adminsitration, or you’ll hear the college admins saying the Unions aren’t looking at the ‘big picture’ and aren’t making decisions based on what’s best for the students.
* Never assume that every faculty member is a good teacher, likewise never assume that even the most unlikely teacher may teach the best class you’ve ever had.
* Never assume you will get that coop job on the list you really wanted. On the other hand, never assume that even the most lame sounding coop that you got foisted into at the last minute might not turn out to be your best one.
* Never assume that your hall advisor is all knowing, on the other hand never assume they don’t know jack. They are just a student who knows the ropes well enough to get that position. They might be really cool, they might be lame, but they do know some things. Don’t treat them like they are part of the college adminsitration, treat them like a fellow student, and all will be well.
* Never assume the folks organizing campus events and activities know what is best. IF you care about what bands and dances occur, and how they are funded etc, get involved with CG. It’s one of the most amazing things about Antioch, that students can organize and run their own section of the budget. Along these lines never assume that 3rd, 4th & 5th years are the only ones who do anything in CG. If you are upset with something at Antioch either work actively to fix it by getting involved, or be quiet. It’s easy to complain, it’s harder to get your hands dirty and make it better. Major life lesson at Antioch, no one else is going to fix the problems for you, it’s up to you. Anything is possible, anything can be…
* Never assume that the people behind the student accounts window actually care about your plight,
* Never assume that your housekeepers and the office administrative assistants at the college aren’t some of the nicest and wisest people you will ever meet.
* Never assume they will treat your ‘squatter’ fairly, they never have and never will. He/She should hightail it out of there before the police get involved (it’s happened before).
* Likewise never assume the administration will treat your friends fairly too.
* Never assume that the CSB will make a decision you agree with when it comes to your friends, but also never assume they are being manipulated as a puppet of the Dean of Students office. Realize that it consists of current students who are doing the best they can. Again, as I mentioned above, if something pisses you off get involved, or drop it.
* Never assume you can get away with breaking the pet ban, some weasel will always rat you out.
* But in conjunction with the above, Never assume that ALL the administration is evil, there are some good people mixed in there. The trick is to find them (hint; Tad in the bookstore, Susan Eklund-Leen in the Coop department and Jimmy Williams in the Dean of Students office are noteworthy, IMHO)
* Never assume the problems you are having in your life, and with the college are unique to you. Not to belittle your feelings, but Antioch moves in cycles, some things never change, some things are always changing. Just realize that the mystical being that is Antioch College is more than just a place to take classes, you are learning every day both inside and outside of class, some of this through hardship. 150 years of angst, stress, joy, love, creativity and dreams have seeped into every building and place there, and it’s from this that you will learn more than all your classes. Small life lessons, quotes, events, and moments will stick with you 10…20.. 30+ years out from Antioch, you’ll look back to your first term and remember things.
* Oh.. and never assume all the above wisdom isn’t biased and based on assumptions from when I was last at the college and therefore could be completely wrong.

Enough from me for now. Maybe some other folks have some ‘never assume’ items they can add here.