An Ode to Cal Poly

Dear Cal Poly,

Hi, it’s Dustin. I know we just saw each other this morning and I know that we’ll see each other tomorrow too, but there are a few things I want to tell you that I just don’t have the guts to say in person.

Valentine’s Day is today, and I just wanted to make sure that we’re on the same page in this relationship. You know I love you, but I just don’t think you understand what I go through to keep us together.

My main concern is your motto, “Learn by doing.” I have always loved your commitment to providing me the best education possible through “interactive” and “hands-on” learning experiences, but I think that you may have taken this a little too far lately. Don’t get me wrong, as a journalism major I love that you offer me the opportunity to write for a daily newspaper and the chance to get out and interact with the public, just like in the real world. There’s nothing wrong with that. I need the experience to get ahead in my chosen field . it’s just . well . is it absolutely necessary for me to do the same things for my general education classes?

I know that getting a broad and well-balanced education is important to my development as a well-functioning member of society, but would it be OK if every once in a while I learned by reading? Or maybe by listening to a lecture and taking notes?

I always enjoy our little adventures together, like that Sunday you sent me out on a daylong hike to take a picture with a rock, or the countless hours I’ve spent researching and preparing for group presentation after group presentation. The only problem is that my boss is really getting sick of me asking for time off work to do these things.

You see, our relationship isn’t cheap. We’ve only been together for two years and in that time I’ve managed to accumulate somewhere in the region of $34,000 in student loans. Of course these don’t cover everything, so I have to spend the majority of my out-of-class time working so I can afford to keep coming to see you every day. When I miss work to participate in out-of-class activities, I lose money, and the more money I lose, the more likely it is that we’re going to have to break up.

My commitment really is to you. I spend copious amounts of time planning my schedule each quarter and then I ask my boss to make me a special work schedule around those hours. She does it because she understands the importance of education and the need to have money to support that education; however, it doesn’t make things easy for the rest of the staff and makes my boss a little frustrated when I call, with only 24 hours notice, to tell her I won’t be able to make it in because I have to drive to Paso Robles to attend a lecture on the breeding habits of aphids.

I’m not na’ve. I know our relationship isn’t as special as I would like it to be. You have thousands of other students who you spend just as much time with as me, and I would assume that many of them face the same problems I do. So why not try to understand us better? Don’t we deserve it after everything we do for you?

I truly love you Cal Poly. That is why I left Cal State Long Beach after two years to come home and be with you.

Do I expect you to change? Not particularly. Will I really leave you? Probably not. I’ll continue doing what I’m doing, maybe make the occasional phone call to my parents explaining how I’m short on rent this month because I missed four days of work last pay period. I might even sell the occasional household appliance on Craigslist to pay the electric bill.

I guess my only hope in writing you this letter is that maybe you will learn to appreciate what myself, and so many like me, endure just for you.

So … yeah, food for thought. I’m sorry to come off so bitchy, I just haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately. Please don’t hate me.

Love,

Your Dusty-poo