"Once More unto the Breach" Column: Advice from an ‘older geezer’
By KEN SCHROEDER
Early December 1979, I strode these halls for the first time. Like most of you, I was fresh from High School, but still not sure where I was going with my life. Believe it or else, not much as changed since then, either in the school or in my life.
(In truth, we’ve both added on. The LRCs used to be open to the hallways and the Cultural Center was not added until the following year. Similarly, I easily weigh twice what I did when I first traversed these floors. But, I digress…)
This is my fifth tour of classes at IVCC; indeed, it seems my life’s goal to attend a semester, then go on to other places to continue. Yet for some inexplicable reason, I find my path redirected to this odd assortment of buildings, totally out of place amidst the Illinois cornfields and the evergreen backdrop the college calls home.
Maybe it’s the proximity to my childhood home that brings me back. Or the friends I have made amongst the instructors here, a number that has sadly grown smaller over the years. Whatever the reason, there is a comfort I find gladdening when strolling the halls (and tunnels) of this hall of Academia.
However, over the years, I’ve gotten to know most of the instructors here, at least in passing, and made some interesting observations that I can share with both new students, and returning students here at IVCC.
To those of you entering the school for the first time, some quick notes:
The instructors really are among the best you’ll find. Unlike larger schools, their doors are open to you, and they will help you make it through that difficult freshmen year.
Nobody knows why the buildings are sequenced "C, A, B, D, E." They just are. Deal with it.
Junior Colleges have a higher amount of "returning students," otherwise known as us older geezers, than four-year universities. However, we’re there too. The days of learning in a room full of your peers are over with.
College is different than High School. You CANNOT sit in the back of the class, stay quiet, and get a decent grade. If you want to do well, STOP ACTING LIKE A SHEEP!
Meanwhile, some of you may be returning to college after a long absence, or maybe it’s your first time due to various reasons. Some points for you:
It may take a while to get back into the swing of things, but returning to school is easier than you suspect. Take it from someone who’s made a career of it.
Some of the younger students may seem odd to you. Just imagine what they’d think of what you wore to school in your youth. (Although somebody’s got to explain the hat thing to me…)
Yes, many of the instructors are younger than you. (In fact, ALL of my instructors are younger than me!) Believe me, at times, we can teach them as much as they teach us, plus they’re willing to give us a chance….
If you don’t know how yet, learn how to use a computer. As you may have noticed, they’re in nearly every room at IVCC, and they’re not likely to be leaving anytime soon…
As you may have noticed, certain admonitions work for both the new student and the return, so some advice is universal.
In the weeks to come, I’ll try to cover some of what it means to return to this college that I know so well, and also some of the things I miss from those earlier days. However, I must dedicate this column to someone whose presence is still felt by me whenever I enter the campus.
I never took any of Jim’s classes, but his office was, in those days, right next to Giacomo Leone’s. Jim always had time for students. Always. Even students like me who weren’t one of his students. We talked a fair amount, but not as much as I would have liked. When I mentioned I was moving to St. Louis to attend a journalism school, Jim expressed the concern that it would be a waste of time and money. Probably the best advice that I didn’t listen to.
Jim Jewell died a few years ago, while I was out trying to make a living in radio. Very few deaths have affected me as much. What he did for IVCC and the community is still felt to this day, and will be for some time to come. To Jim Jewell, and his memory, this column is respectfully dedicated.
(The title of this column is a direct quote of William Shakespeare’s Henry V, Act 3, scene 1.)