Proud of the U

I'm on UM's College of Arts and Sciences Visiting Committee, and today I went to a program called "Beyond the Book," in which senior Honors students share their research projects.

I listened, amazed, as these students talked about their fascinating projects, ranging from the extraction of glomulin (apparently the stuff that makes soil clump) to an anthropological study of a Costa Rican island prison, to help write the history of the penal system in Latin America. These kids were scary smart.

One young man, with an Irish name but the look of Frank Zappa, excitedly told about a whole family of coral that nearly went extince 96 million years ago, and his flied work off the coast of Central America that led to a presentation he's going to make at the US Geological Meeting in Oregon.

I sat at a table with a young Religious Studies student (and his proud Dad, a minister from Cocoa Beach) who told about witnessing an exorcism in Africa, and how that led to his paper about the politicalization of Christianity there.

I can state with certainty that my friends and I (OK, I) were NOT that smart in college. I mean, we got into law, medical, and business school, and some got scientific degrees, but I don't recall anyone producing publishable works as an undergraduate.

I got to meet the interim Dean of the College, Jackie Dixon, another great mind, with degrees in Marine Science and Geology from Cal Tech and Stanford. She was beaming at the level of these students, as well she should.

I guess that's something D1 (and probably D2) will miss out on by going to a large public university --the chance to work closely with their professors. Surely UF has great scholars, but with hundreds of other students in your class, it's tough to forge close relationships.

I'm still close with several of my UM professors, and they have been true mentors. I saw a former professor of Religion today,and we joked about D2, who wants to study History. "Well, maybe we can get her back here3 for grad school," he said.

Meanwhile, I left campus in an elated mood, and also relieved, that I didn't have to compete with the likes of these young scholars, back in the day.