Column: Thoughts from Dr. Joe: The study of foundational works lacking, today’s college students may one day regret not knowing them
In recent weeks, I have seen the evolution of the rite of passage unfold from the bleachers at Starbucks. The emerging fledglings who left for college last fall have returned home to La Cañada for the summer and their alchemy is evident in their speech, confidence, deportment and worldview. They are the same kids, and yet a keen eye tells me that as they experience their newfound uniqueness, they are not. Their personification is a combination of many selves, yet the one they left behind is most dissimilar to who they will become.
I enjoy engaging with the returnees. Lately, it appears as though they have evolved into sameness. The diatribes of university life, this little world, a bubble of time separate from everything before and everything after, appears to be ubiquitous. But then La Cañada is often referred to as the bubble. One begets the other. And when will the real world begin?
Of course, my thoughts are exclusively my own and are subjective, and yet they have evolved from years of intimacy between myself, late adolescence and philosophy. Although my perspective is not a product of the scientific method, there is always validity in presumption.
As the returnees articulate their summer plans, inclusive of resume builders such as internships, work, volunteering — for example, with Doctors without Borders — and attending summer school, they are no less than impressive. They are children of the universe, which has whispered its secrets to them. With an eye toward the future, they follow a systematic path that will hopefully assure them a large slice of the American dream. Yet I am reminded of the lyrics of the song, “Is That All There Is,” inspired by Thomas Mann’s story, “Disillusionment.”
Regardless, I’m not one for throwing the baby out with the wash; consequently, I appreciate their contemporary and pragmatic methodology as they traverse this rite of passage. Yet I believe what is detrimental to our collective society is that students today are not acquainted with the literature of the spirit, which adds to the pragmatic realities of the 21st century. It is this combination, the yin and yang, which gives life balance and the give-and-take of energy. The symbolic nature of yin and yang is a Chinese philosophy that explains how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary. In this case, the literature of the spirit complements all contemporary paradigms.
It appears that today’s students are primarily interested in the cause of the day or perhaps earning a degree that will provide an abundance of the American dream. That paradigm is pragmatic. I contend that the returnees are on their way, but it’s only half the equation. Today, the great devotions of life, along with the compulsion to build a solid economic future, consume our students. At one time the university was isolated and the news of the day did not impinge upon the attention to the core of the human spirit. Intimate acquaintance with the words of Socrates, Marcus Aurelius, Buddha, Nietzsche, and the countless storytellers who speak of eternal human values center us and light the path we follow. These stories are foundational and provide relevance to the often maddening inertia of life. Today, this literature is no longer integral to a university experience and its themes — which have supported human life, built civilizations and dealt with humanity’s deepest concerns and mysteries — have disappeared or have been minimized by elective status. One day, the returnees will be older and the great devotions that have given them meaning will pass. The drive toward the American dream will eventually satiate. Perhaps then the returnees will look within, and if there’s nothing there, they will be empty.
JOE PUGLIA is a practicing counselor, a retired professor of education and a former officer in the Marines. Reach him at doctorjoe@ymail.com. Visit his website at doctorjoe.us.
