A Reporter's Journal
By Brandt Williams, February 2001
| | This spring will mark my 10th year as a University of Minnesota
graduate. Walking around the Minneapolis campus observing and interviewing
students, I also take time to reflect on how much water has passed beneath
the Washington Avenue bridge - both for the University, and myself.
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Take a tour of the University of Minnesota from a former student's perspective.
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The most obvious change at the "U" is the amount of new buildings that have
been erected in such a short period of time: The new alumni center, the
Weisman Art Museum, the new Carlson School of Management building to name a
few. Construction sites filled with cranes and heavy machinery are nearly
everywhere you look. Parking ramps, have sprouted up around campus faster
than Starbucks coffee shops in strip malls.
There are still very familiar sites, but I look at them through very
different eyes. Some 12 years ago, I used to walk through the tunnels
located underneath the West Bank, wondering what in the world I was going
to do once I left school, pondering the meaning of life and fretting about
upcoming tests.
Today, I'm mulling over ideas of how to fix the garage
door of the new house I just bought; the status of my retirement annuity or
what to make my wife for dinner.
I know it is cliche, but these days the university seems smaller and the
students younger. When I was a student time, passed at a snails
pace. Clocks were like calendars. These days, clocks are like fans. I
can't tell how time is passing for today's university students, but the
looks on many of their faces are familiar. It is the look of someone who
is juggling schoolwork, everyday life and plans for the future. It is a
look that is as prevalent and burdensome as the packs on their backs.
Of course student life isn't all drudgery. I saw many students enjoying
the independence that college life affords. On a Friday afternoon at the
St. Paul Student Union, I got a little jealous watching the groups of
students just hanging out playing pool or pinball.
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MPR's Brandt Williams graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1991. He majored in speech communications and minored in African American studies.
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I also saw a few
loners; those students who can be found by themselves, heads buried
in books or napping at one of the many campus libraries or lounges. I was
one of them. I was more focused on getting my degree than
socializing. Sometimes I think if I would have had it to do all over
again, I would have lightened up a bit.
Much has been done around the "U" to increase school pride. Flags and a new
paint job have spruced up the Washington Avenue bridge. The most creative
attempt to rally Gopher pride has to be the little black boxes located in
urinals, which upon contact with warm liquid, reveal a sign which says "Go
Gophers." (Actually, a letter in the Minnesota Daily posed that the urinal
signs are also meant to inspire accuracy as much as pride.)
As a student, I didn't think much of Gopher pride. I didn't go to any
sporting events, get involved in any clubs or even own a Gopher
sweatshirt. However, these past few days of reliving my college years has
helped me realize that being a grown up isn't so bad. And I can't help but
feel a little proud of the institution that helped me grow in more ways
than I've been able to realize until now.
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