Was it all worth it? I hope I can say that it was in the future. I’d like to imagine myself at age 52, with a stable job, mostly happy, married, a small house and two cats. I’d like to imagine that on Saturday mornings I make homemade waffles or cinnamon rolls, and during the fall I visit Vermont for a fun weekend. That would be really nice to feel like I have someone, something that makes it all worth it.
In college, you’re building up for that. Working, studying, making friends, all in hope that one day you can say it was worth it. So I think it’s rather scary when your professors, your family and different statistics tell you it won’t be.
It’s discouraging when you know professors are worried about their own future as well. It makes me wonder if it was really worth coming here. I came here as a Doane chiller, but really what that means is I didn’t have a reason to be here. I wish I had done more research before coming here. I mean, I could have just stayed at home and studied online, maybe gone to the University of Colorado Boulder instead.
It’s too late to switch. Coming to this school was sadly a mistake. I’ve made the most of things I would like to think about: writing for the newspaper, being involved in Bible studies. I’ve met a couple of really good people and amazing professors (most who are gone or leaving).
But I hope I can cling to the good memories. I hope that the future is brighter because, my goodness, if my future were tied to the state of this school… it doesn’t look so good.
It’s such a weird season on campus because I remember when I came as a freshman, things did feel hopeful. If there were problems, maybe it didn’t fully hit me.
It feels like everyone here is on a sinking boat, and we all feel the water rising; we’re doing our best… some people are jumping out of the boat, some are kicked off, some are ignoring the rising water. But it is sinking, and I don’t know when it will sink. But a lot of other small private colleges are having similar issues or are at risk of closing. It’s not too late to solve the issues. So is there a plan? Because right now it feels like we’re in a horrible game of Jeopardy: “What is the sunk cost fallacy?”
