[Beryana]

We're all in college, or graduated college, right? Going to classes was basically voluntary, right? We all decided that we wanted the end results, that very expensive piece of paper. In order to get that piece of paper we all had/have to attend classes, write papers, TAKE EXAMS--all on information that one person (or a couple people) feel is important for us to know. That information is drilled into us--and sometimes we aren't told what information is going to be on the exam, yet we have to take it. We also had to take those pesky general education classes that no one really liked but you had to take because you want that piece of paper. Sometimes we didn't feel comfortable taking the exams for whatever reason, but we HAD to take them--and pass them or you don't get that little piece of paper. Also, some schools have 4-6 weeks classes (Cornell College), some have 16 week classes (most colleges and universities), some even have longer or shorter semesters. Either way, you still have to 'cram' all the information into that set timeframe and its up to the student to make sure that he/she knows it.

Does this not sound a lot like the discussion that is currently going on about pledge period length and the NM exams?!

Just my thoughts as I was reading the posts.

Sarah

P.S. I'm all for the NM exams--knowing the information (even if its cramming--because some will stick, especially if you have yearly member exams) is the basis on which our rituals are grounded.