Sorry guys, that I didn´t write something for some days. But now I want to write something about a topic which is very important for me. It is about the question if a student should involve himself in other activities in the University besides the studies or not.
For me, the institution University means much more than going to lectures, learning in the library and writing some exams. Due to the high academical requirements at our university I have the impression that the students think exactly that. In my daily work as president of a student organization I recognize on and on again that also high motivated students who really want to do something besides studies and are interested in the activities that we are running, do not involve themselves as they could because of a irrational fear of losing track of their studies(sorry for the long sentence).
For me, a university, or better, the time as a student is a period in which somebody should try himself out. A student should be creative, open-minded, proactive, committed, critally-thinking, curious. The student time should be used to learn how to work, how to think, how to be self-responsible, how to deal with problems and how to work, deal and communicate with other individuals. A campus should be a place full of initiatives and with a certain spirit. Of course I know that this is a kind of ideal imagination, but I think that we should at least follow to fulfill it.
Haha sounds nice but how can we follow these goals that I mentioned before? Certainly not in consuming only the content of lectures, bring the stuff on paper in an exam for which we learned hours and hours in the library and then we go all home. No! For sure this is what the studies are about. This is why we are here and we need all this theoretical background to develop ourselves and our careers. What I want to express is that this can´t be all. And it is not what I am searching in an university and its young students who should be willing to turn around the world. This is not what I left my homecountry for.
I tell you one thing: I have high respect towards every person at UniBZ who is really getting his ass ripped to bring some life in our so-nice university. They are a hurting-small minority who are putting up a program and opportunities to the majority who is often not even recognizing it. There are plenty of opportunities for the students to get involved in student life. AIESEC, Kikero, Scub, Uniparty, Unichoir, student representative, Flyer, Alumniclub, and sorry for all that I not mentioned now. And they have always problems to find succssors or remain the critical mass for the work that they are doing.
So we can ask ourselves where are the reasons for it? Well, I admit there are plenty: 1. The University is small. 2. Many students have to work. 3. The students prefer to study because they want to finish in regular study time. 4. The parents of the students wouldn´t allow it. 5. They have already interests which are also time-demanding. 6. The students in BZ are special, they don´t care.
So let´s see if my idealism can pick up with this:
1. Yes, our University is small. That´s also the reason why we dont have that many student associations. When you look at other Universities, there are instead dozens of associations. Nevertheless I see much more potential in our alma mater for students to involve themselves.
2. Yes, many students have to work. And I have some students in my AIESEC committee who are combining the stuff very good. Yes, they are complaining about the workload, but I think deep in their heart they like doing it. If I would have to work on a regular basis besides studies, I would probably not have this position with that much responsability I have now, but I am sicurissimo that it would not disturb me in taking over small commitments, e.g. being normal member in one of the associations or being student representative.
3.+4. I want to put this together because these statements follow the same false assumption. I truly believe that when the majority of companies has the choice between an alumno who has excellent grades and a short study or a guy who has good marks and one semester more but was very active at University and has taken over responsibility, they would definitely not decide alone depending on the academic figures. Again a long sentence, I make it short: companies look at the whole person, not only on academic records. When I was at this conference at Torino, we were able to talk to the recruitment responsible of L´Oreal Italia and she said that they are searching for talent and character. She prompted us to not only stick to learn, but do something on top. This is what I personally experienced also at my previous work opportunities. This is never-ending, but I guess I will follow this topic in another post someday. Grr.
5. That´s a good reason.
6. The students in BZ are not special, they are like all the others. There are males, females and they come from all from different realities and different social backgrounds. They are all students. They are not more uninterested than in any other university on this earthball.
So, now I invested 1 hour in this post (some might say I "wasted" it). But thats what it is about. I could have learned economics in this hour, but ok, I will do it directly after I have finished. Thats ok for me, because it is fun and I see the benefits for me. I hope that also other students will somehow finally realize it... Let´s see it as my contribution for students life in BZ.
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