What Will Your Verse Be?

The last time I wrote, I was writing in the midst of the climax of what was a pretty dramatic school year. I attended my last classes as a sophomore in college a mere two weeks since the last time I wrote, and shortly thereafter, I took final exams. While finals were drama-filled for everyone, my last classes were also unexpectedly cinematic.

Several of my professors were either retiring or moving on to teach at other universities, so my last classes were filled with retirement well-wishes and goodbye speeches. One of my professors, in wrapping up his final lecture, called upon a scene from the movie Dead Poet's Society, in which Robin Williams' character (John Keating) gives a speech to his class about the power of poetry. In this scene, Keating recites Walt Whitman's poem, "O Me! O Life!" Keating ends the poem by asking his students, "What will your verse be?"

After watching the clip, my professor posed the same question to my class, asking us to not only consider what mark we will leave on the world, but to also consider how we will go about leaving our mark – will it be through what we are studying in college? Or have we not discovered our true callings yet? This was and probably will be one of the most memorable last days of class that I have ever experienced; it is not often that I get tears in my eyes when classes end, but this certainly moved me. To have a teacher coax us into considering what our legacy will be when we are in the midst of constructing the foundation from which we will build that future legacy was surreal to me; I saw in my mind's eye all of my dreams and goals come to fruition, but then pull me back to the importance of the present moment.

The next professor to give an emotional sendoff happened shortly after the first. This professor was retiring after over 40 years of teaching at this one university. After thanking us for a wonderful semester, my professor looked at us and said, "You are all a great group of kids, but your only fault is that you underestimate your own abilities. You all have it together; you every reason to be confident in yourselves." Yet another sendoff that made me get teary-eyed!

In looking back at these two last-day sendoffs, I think I became emotional because their words were a fitting end to my year of learning, growing, and changing. The professor that was retiring told me (and my class) to not underestimate myself and to be more confident in myself, and that was exactly what I learned to do this year. My other professor told me to consider what my verse will be in the 'powerful play' of life, another thing that I came to do on a daily basis this year. These professors showed me that my school year was not just about learning material from a textbook to pass a test; they showed me that this year was about learning about myself to become more myself.

I truly believe that this year, I have positioned myself on the launch pad of my future, and I am ready to blast-off into my starry future at any second. I now am equipped with the tools necessary to achieve my dreams, and now that I believe that I actually can achieve them, nothing will stop me.

During my freshman year, I was convinced that I was at the right school and that I was there for a reason (whatever that reason was), despite my uncertainty about my college of choice. Now, not only do I know with certainty that I am in the right place, I also know why I am here: because I was supposed to undergo the trying experiences that I faced this year to become ME. Now, I can contribute a powerful verse to the powerful play of life.

What will your verse be?

-That University Girl