Glade to be back at LMU

Not many get the chance to come back to LMU as a student; I am one of the lucky few. After graduating as an undergrad in 2007, I thought I would never come back, but I found myself here again for grad school. During my time away from LMU, I went straight to the workforce and learned quite a bit. I thought when I returned to LMU that I would be a teacher of sorts and bestow what I learned upon others. It was a rather arrogant assumption made on my part. However, soon after returning to LMU, I found that I wasn’t going to be a “teacher” to the undergrads at all, but still very much a student. There are four important lessons I learned from them for the last year and a half:

There are things that may be different, but much of it is still the same: While the campus has changed quite a bit since I graduated, whether it’s the construction right in the middle of it or the new events that came about, there are still things at LMU that have stayed the same. Mainly, these things are frustrations that an average LMU student would have, such as the irritation with any department you can think of (read: Financial Aid and Student Accounts); the fact that dealing with Housing is like playing with a Rubik’s Cube; and that every dining establishment at LMU is overpriced.  Even though everyone’s experience at LMU is different year to year, we still complain and gripe about the same things. Oddly enough, I find a lot of comfort in that.

You’ll always still feel welcome (sort of): When I came back as a graduate student last year, I found that people really like seeing a familiar face, regardless of when they graduated. In my case, those familiar faces thought I never graduated and was either a junior or senior in undergrad. Anytime I ran into someone I knew, they would be pleasantly surprised and asked me what brought me back to LMU. I said that I was here for grad school, and they would reply, “OMG I thought you were a senior!” While that can get annoying, it’s actually nice that people don’t think that I am that old and still have that youthful glow.

Learning to lighten up: When I started college nearly six years ago, I was uptight, overly-cautious and a bit neurotic. I went through the same pressures and anxieties that every freshman goes through, such as trying to fit in and making friends. I still considered myself to be that outgoing girl, but I guess I was just scared.  As time went on, I loosened up and started to enjoy my time at LMU. When I left, I wished that I had lightened up earlier and enjoyed my time more at LMU. When I got my second chance, not only did I do that, but my friends appreciated that part of me and always encouraged it. Now everyone thinks I am a really nice yet crazy girl. Despite that, I am comfortable with the person I became, and I am fortunate to have friends around me that appreciate such craziness.

Have an open mind: I’ll never stop learning this lesson, but it’s a very important one. When I was a freshman, I would consider myself to be somewhat close-minded, and I saw things in just one way. As time went on, I found that everyone has a unique story to tell and it should be respected. I also found that these stories let me see the world in a different way. I appreciate those stories because they changed my perspective on the world. For example, I was very cynical about love because it seemed overrated, and I just didn’t think I could fall in love or experience that. However, during the five and a half years I have been here, it ended up happening to me. While not much as come from it, it didn’t make me cynical, but grateful that I got that chance and welcome it again whenever the opportunity presents itself.

While I know many of us don’t get the chance to return to our second home in the same capacity, I think I needed that opportunity. Four years is definitely not enough, and obviously I needed five years to figure things out. Now with graduation right around the corner, I’ll graduate a second time from Sunken Gardens, and I got the experience that I desperately desired. Wherever my future takes me, I know that I’ll be learning and forever a student.

This is the opinion of Faiza Mokhtar, a second year bioethics graduate student from Los Angeles, Calif. Please send comments to fmokhtar@theloyolan.com