JANUARY 23, 2023 – I have a confession to make. For many years I contributed nothing to my alma mater’s alumni fund. I’d soured on the whole idea in the course of paying major bucks through both nostrils for our younger son’s college education. How could increases in the all-in cost consistently far outstrip the rate of inflation? One reason, I surmised, was that American institutions of higher learning seemed locked in a mighty arms race, not over academic quality but life-style amenities and state-of-the-art athletic facilities. Feeling financially victimized by one of the biggest scams in America—the high cost of higher education—I wasn’t about to throw more money away by “giving” to my alma mater.
Fast forward to the mellower me. At the time of my cancer diagnosis a year ago, two classmates with whom I’d been in close contact previously were joined by a third in their unswerving support and encouragement. The third classmate led to contacts with a fourth and a fifth.
I’ve since recovered my health and deferred my demise to the abstract future. But one of the many lasting benefits of last year’s early brush with mortality is a regular email exchange among a group of us from the Class of ’76. This lively, almost daily set of communications is now in its sixth month. It serves as a welcome diversion from . . . politics, which is never a topic of our digital conversation.
These exchanges lead down surprising, improbable, captivating paths, each a celebration of learning for learning’s sake. I never know to what piece of art, music, history, literature I’ll be introduced; what window will be opened onto yet another wonder. In the course of this correspondence, I’m learning the ultimate value of our common formal education: abiding friendships deeply rooted in curiosity about the infinite marvels of humanity.
Perhaps my criticism of the “Great American Scam” remains valid, particularly in light of the staggering corresponding debt load imposed on millions of Americans and the exclusion of millions more who can’t access an adequate primary and secondary education. My long-standing cynicism, however, has been tempered by my newfound appreciation for people whom I know only because of our mutual association with that “scam.”
If I squandered the greater portion of my college education while I was experiencing it, I’m now gaining deep respect and admiration for scholarship driven by curiosity, enhanced by the uncommon talents, colorful imaginations and caring personalities of my unwitting “instructors.” In prior phases of life, I would’ve felt envy and regret—envy because my own gifts were of far lesser worth; regret because I’d squandered the learning opportunities my classmates had instead leveraged to the hilt. But no more envy or regret. I’m ever so grateful that I’m “back in class” among scholars whose hearts and minds I so admire.
I’ve now opened my wallet to our alma mater, but henceforth my larger contribution—to life—will be to reflect the best I can, the sunshine that my classmates beam into the world.
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© 2023 by Eric Nilsson
