The Office
It is often said that college is a place where people learn and discover more about themselves. Reasonably so, it is not strange to hear people make remarks like: “It was in college that I discovered my passion for antiques, hence my interest in anthropology courses." Or: “While in college, I realized I had to work on my public speaking skills, so I joined the debate team.” For me, I saw and still see room for making myself a better, if not a great, reader.
I can’t say enough that I would read textbooks for classes but once upon a time, on a 13-hour flight from South Africa to England, I never read a book—which is fine, by the way, because we all choose what we want to do with our time. The point is would it be possible to read a book of interest—had I chosen to—and connect its arguments, distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, or perhaps distinguish subjective/normative arguments from objective ones? Or, would I be able to question some of the writer’s thoughts rather than go with all of them just for the sake of it? I always tell my friends that I think one of the many reasons why I am in college is to be ever better at doing the aforementioned!
Speaking of books, something interesting happened in the first half of this semester:
It was a cloudy Monday evening, and I was en route to the political science department for office hours. I arrived, knocked on one of the office doors, and then: “Oh, is it Oswald? Please, come on in.” That was Richard Niemi, my political science professor. “Please take a seat and I will be with you shortly,” he said, while wrapping up a lecture he was preparing on his computer. While waiting, the inquisitive kid in me started checking out the office. I saw a huge table, a ladder, and, most fascinating, two gigantic shelves filled with books—now you know what the professor has been using the ladder for. 🙂
After our session, I asked him: “So, Professor Niemi, how many of these books have you read?” He lifted his head, smiled, and then replied: “All but 3.” “Lord of 
mercy,” I said to myself, “is this man for real?” He continued: “The 3 are in Swedish and some other 2 languages which I am not so good at. That’s why I haven’t finished reading them.” “Are you serious?” I asked out of surprise. “Yeah,” he replied. He saw that look on my face and kept smiling. I am sure he must have said to himself: “This kid thinks we are here to joke.” Given he is 70 years old, it seems reasonable for him to have read all these books, but I was overwhelmed, nevertheless.
Anyways, I came out of that office with 2 things at the back of my head. First, our teachers go through a lot to help us grow. And second, our ability to read provides us an undoubtedly amazing opportunity to learn about so many different things. So if you can read—anything—say kudos to your teacher and whoever contributed to this success—including you!