Inspired and Devoted or Just Plain Lazy?

Months later, here I am. Almost two months into my freshman year at Trinity. In this fleeting time, I have uncovered numerous things, many of which come as a total surprise to me. I had expected a student body full of a passion for enhancing themselves through whatever means possible. What I've found so far, is that a large percentage of students here are extremely self-absorbed. Ouch, right? I hate to generalize but you have to admit that it's pretty true. At least within the Class of 2001.

A couple weeks into the semester, my friends and I attended the club night held in the Washington Room. It was extremely overwhelming (for those of you who have at some point gone to one of these little gatherings, you know what I mean) but at the same time, quite exciting. Like most other freshmen, I probably signed up for at least fifteen clubs that night.

When the letters and meetings started pouring in, I learned that it is impossible to spread yourself this thin and some of us narrowed our list down. However, it seems as though the vast majority basically blew the groups off. I couldn't begin to explain how many times I've heard a comment to the affect of "I have so much work during the week and too much partying on the weekend. How do they expect me to devote so much of my time to a club that doesn't count for anything?" Whatever happened to doing something generous to help others? As if clubs can't compare with the wonderful world of academia or partying. Working without getting something in return seems to be a foreign concept for underclassmen here. Sure, I'm willing to do a paper that I am forced to do to pass a class, but to selflessly devote three hours a week to a community service group is beyond my reach. Get real. Most of us coasted in here on good grades and a bulky list of extracurriculars. So what has happened now? Now that you're in you don't need to extend yourself anymore?

Unfortunately, this seems to be the case. It is true that I cannot speak for everyone on this issue, but these are my observations as they stand as a new member of this caring community. With obvious exceptions, we appear to be a group of self-occupied, selfish brats. I am not by any means excluding myself from this generalization, because I will admit that I find myself doing it too. At Trinity, we have endless opportunities to do something amazing with ourselves and our time. However, a sudden wave of selfishness has hit since our arrival in August.