Outside the Ivy Walls

Say what you will about college life, but it is an incredibly open, tolerant, and enlightened place. I know some of you reading this will say just the opposite, will argue that college is a dark, dark, awful place. But there is something nice about the fact that students in college are constantly thinking, that college is a place where students are inherently examining the world.

College is a place where people are open to new ideas. And sometimes that's a bad thing. As always, I'm reminded of the advice, "don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out." But every now and then, outside the ivy walls, I hear a statement that strikes me as so outlandish and intolerant and ridiculous and I realize the difference between college and the "real world."

Someone who shall remain nameless said to me recently something to the effect of "suicide is just stupidity." This was in relation to specific cases of suicide and it floored me. How grossly insensitive, how intolerant, how completely lacking in understanding and sympathy.

Now, you might say, not such a big deal, right? But it is a big deal. College may have its ups and downs, it may have more bad than good, but it's a place where people are willing to be understanding, where they're willing to walk a mile in someone else's shoes, where they're willing to accept someone else's decisions as valid or at the very least sensical.

It's an understanding you don't necessarily get outside the ivy walls.