University and Whatever It Is

One of my friends wrote a post in their channel in praise of the university, with the underlying theme of not discouraging others, and this is a concern for the author, which is why it's interesting to me. Whether you agree or disagree, it's worth reading. When I read this in the morning, I thought the university entrance exam results had been announced, only to realize now that it's the 22nd of Mehr! By now, the dear students are already following each other on Instagram and sharing their inside jokes, and we, as always, arrived late... I wanted to share an experience about university. An experience that, as always, is not purely personal but a compilation of experiences and stories that I have seen and heard firsthand, so that I can refer back to it every year if needed.

Homebodies who neither have a physical presence in society, nor insightful eyes, nor even listening ears, are incapable of understanding, analyzing, and digesting phenomena; and one day, when they are forced out of their 3x4 rooms, if not ostracized, they will suffer fundamentally and be incapable of interacting with others. Life, which is not very pleasant in and of itself, will now have its unpleasantness doubled for them.

I see university the same way. A stage in life where you can fill your magazines for future reloads. To find new guns for yourself. A crucial checkpoint that you will return to over and over again because many boss fights are going to appear on your path ahead. You might not have studied at NODET (SAMPAD), or you might have been a student at a public school where a mare was like Aristotle compared to your differential calculus teacher, or... or perhaps you emerged from the heart of a chaotic and troubled life, or whatever else! Anyway, you are standing here now, and university is right in front of you, and I think you must seize this opportunity fundamentally.

I want to start with the bitter and hard part of the story, which is that it matters where you are a student. It matters a lot! But the good news is that this isn't the whole story! Why does it matter? Because perhaps not all of us, but the majority of us grow and develop within society. If this growth and development happens in the heart of a faculty/university where lethargy and lack of motivation are the dominant colors, or even if you face this issue at the intake cohort level, you are going to experience a hard time. People, without even meaning to, will chain your hands and feet and make moving forward difficult for you. Studying in a place where the people who came before you have now made a name for themselves and become someone will be a very good guide for you to make fewer mistakes. So that you go astray less. You are going to cross a passage where the dog tags of its sappers have been drying there for years. In another scenario, if you want to start studying at a second-rate university where neither its students envision a role for themselves nor its professors consider the students to be human beings (with everyone happy and satisfied with this situation), you won't have a very pleasant time if you are someone who cares. You will suffer. But right here is where we get to why this isn't the whole story! Now it's time for you to play your own role!

Fortunately or unfortunately, even if you are accepted into such-and-such university in some middle-of-nowhere village, there's a good chance you have one (or a few) classmates or a senior student who, from a hundred leagues away, clearly has a different path from the rest. They are a decent person and can be of great help to you. Now, the luckier you are, the higher the number of these people in your faculty. This is a great opportunity that one shouldn't easily lose. Of course, this doesn't mean you should constantly suck up to them so that it ends up like the proverb "burnt from one's own rawness, a traveler who didn't learn the partridge's walk"... No! This is an opportunity for you so that if you do something, if you show your worth, there is someone to see you, and this being seen is important. In my opinion, it's even vital! On the other hand, having few competitors (not being without competitors) creates the opportunity to be seen much more easily. Really, what could be better than this!! Being seen brings opportunities, and well, life is perhaps truly nothing but the struggle of constantly gaining and losing opportunities.

In this same vein, another fundamental thing the university does for you is networking, and having a network is important! I have said this wherever I sat and had a chance to speak, and I will say it again: people! Having connections is always, everywhere, and at all times important! It is connections that push you forward directly or indirectly, otherwise, you are just one of millions of nobodies... No one will see you to even give you the chance to show yourself. You have to, as Saul says, "know a guy who knows a guy" who can get your things sorted out. Who can refer you. Who, due to their close relationship with you, knows your capacities and trusts you. Otherwise, you apply for a position where the LinkedIn post says over 100 people applied in just the past two days... Truly, if luck isn't heavily on your side here, your situation will become the story of "When a man's days turn dark, he does all that is of no use"... University gives you the opportunity to stop being a nobody in that crowd. This will save you in the later stages. I guarantee it :)

Regarding literacy, interests, and the rest of these issues, I think I previously wrote my opinion on Agora, and Negar has also talked about it in her post, which you can read there. Although I have stories to tell, I think this much is enough :)

P.S.: The channel I referenced is private. You can request to join here.