Today I reminisced on last year’s adventures (particularly the one in these photos) while reading the pages my professor assigned for his ‘Rhetoric of Non-Fiction’ lecture- his rather démodé, romantic demonstration of the journey of psychological development in young adults.

I suppose the reason I wrote this is mainly because this anonymous professor deserves all the respect I could give him. Even if he does not read it. I respect him for his old-school convictions, his veracity, and desire for building character. Not long ago, as a student who felt incompetent of absorbing the rather complex material he was educating- he served as my mystagogue, guiding me along by challenging my prevailing truths, which held me paralyzed when my name was called in lectures.

In his last lecture, he reiterated the importance of autonomy by stating,

“far too often, people in this generation refuse to address their ‘call’ to freedom, the call to a state of transcendence. Many young adults retreat to comfort and into abject misery- in fear of the ordeals they must face to grow.”

In other words,

“the self ultimately acquires for more experience. If you invest too much time in a stage in which you don’t grow, then psychologically you regress to a state of depression- the wish for a death of a former self, and a craving to be reborn.”

Although his way of educating students may not be modern or popular among the majority, I know for a fact that many students adore him for his commitment to teaching young adults what he has learned through a liberal education- what he believes matters in life, by closely reading, the psychological journey a stranger endures by understanding the motivations behind their own life choices.  💭