has to submit a commencement speech for consideration. She decided to write about how shes never going to use her degree. Here is a very rough first draft: Hello. I’m Sharon Pirog. I began my undergraduate as Sharon D. Allen at Milligan College, which is a very small, but very good, private Christian liberal arts college in rural Tennessee. Seventeen years later I’m finishing at the largest Catholic university in the country, in the 28th largest city in the world. There were some differences. For one, this time I had a car. I also had entertainment options beyond a hacky sack and a skateboard. And I never had to eat Ramen noodles. I did, of course, because they are delicious. But I ate them of my own volition and not because I only made $40 a week working at the cafeteria, slicing the moldy bits off of a huge chunk of cheese that I swear was there for my entire five months. At Milligan, I was a double or triple major, depending on the week: Communications, History, and Humanities with an Emphasis on Theology. (I just like taking a lot of classes.) After I left Milligan, I worked as a house painter and a mover. Then I joined the United States Army and added college credit for First Aid and Marksmanship. (My transcripts make me look schizophrenic.) While deployed to Iraq I worked as a fuel truck driver and a heavy equipment operator. As you can plainly see, my liberal arts education came in very handy. Walt Whitman and the Woman of Willendorf built my scaffolding. Tintoretto carried a piano with me and Titian drove the truck. Kierkegaard and Kant took shifts on my bulldozer and Amenhotep had my back in Iraq. Here at DePaul my Focus Area was Communication, Negotiation, and Mediation in a Multi-Faith and Cross-Cultural Context. (I like taking a lot of classes.) I know all of you had to take one or two classes that were not very related to your career or intended career. I was very fortunate that that did not apply to me. 100% of my classes had absolutely nothing to do with my career. I’m an industrial machinery mechanic. It is possible that I will retire as one, my DePaul degree hanging on the left side of my toolbox and my graduate degree hanging on the right. (I’m overpaid and I have a pension and if I quit my husband would kill me.) Having a working knowledge of nuclear fusion and quantum mechanics does not help me work a wrench. (It did, however, make my physicist dad very happy. He has since inundated my inbox with corny science jokes. So, Father Shelby, thank you for that.) DePaul has not made me a better mechanic. But I’m a mechanic for 40 hours a week and a member of society for 168 (don’t check the math: I’m a liberal arts student) and DePaul has made me a better person. My liberal arts education has made me a better citizen. Of this country and of this world. Issues in Science and Religion and Manifestation of Belief made me more informed about hot-button issues. They also made me a more informed voter. Mediation taught me skills that I can use every day. But I learned other things, too. I learned that Collaboration is mainly an exercise in frustration, but when it’s achieved it’s worth the effort. I learned that the most important skill in negotiation is forgetting the words and listening to their intent. I learned that you can have a lot of homework for a class called “Leisure.” And I learned more than just facts. Somehow I ended up in three classes that portended the end of the world. Marine Ecology: the oceans are dying. Climate and Climate Change: the planet is dying. Infectious Disease: we are all going to die and it’s going to be messy. But while the information relayed indicated that we are doomed, the message I got was one of hope. Until I saw that a five-week class required a final presentation, portfolio, and a 10-page essay test, single-spaced. I was doomed. But the world is not. Somehow my instructors were so reasonable, yet passionate, that I did not leave those classes with my head bowed in resignation, but held high, ready to go out and change the world. (Don’t worry, Dad, I’m not going to Occupy anything.) But I do want to become involved and engaged in the direction of our society. My liberal arts education has made me feel empowered and prepared to be a part of the solution. I was lucky enough to go to war and have Uncle Sam pay for my education. I have the luxury of a high-paying job that does not require a degree, so I had the freedom to go back to school entirely for my own edification. Just because I wanted to learn. You all have nobler motivations. You have sacrificed a significant amount of time and a substantial amount of money to be here today. You want to advance in your career so that you can better support your family and give yourself, give your children, a better future. I commend you all for that. You want to better yourselves. Just remember that you already have.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 03:59:42 +0000
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