University of Virginia Library

Fen Montaigne

Umbilical Reflections

This University, any
university, is a womb. And for
four years, thousands of
students assume various fetal
positions, waiting anxiously for
their day of graduation, their
day of birth.

* * *

We are basically a lecherous,
parasitic lot While at the
University we are, more often
than not, supported by our
parents or the state. We are
fed, clothed, sheltered, and
given time to study and think.

We are fully supported and
secured as we take a few steps
back from society. We remain
at a critical distance, pointing
out the weaknesses, sicknesses,
and absurdities of our
American way of life.

Sometimes we discover that
the people feeding us may be
misdirected, or worse yet, sick.
And with the food falling out
of our mouths, we may
mumble that "something is
wrong". They might hear us,
they may even listen, but most
likely, our words will be
ignored.

We tend to, "bite the hand
that feeds us." Ungrateful
bastards, aren't we?

* * *

Those who compare the
university to the womb, and
their comparison may be valid,
often attempt to cram the
students and professors of this
country into the twelfth floor
of an ivory tower. The
university is dismissed as
irrelevant and impractical, and
may it rest in peace.

We may live in a tower. But
ours is a watchtower, and when
society burns, we will
hopefully be the first to see
smoke. The air seems somehow
clearer up here.

* * *

I see my years at this
University as a time to gather
strength, a time to build ideals.
There are too many broken
down idealists, too many run
down romantics, too many
people who have quit, too
many who have tossed away
youthful ideals in order to hold
on to the ease of practicality.
The need for money, the need
for security, the need for a
rest, can make the loftiest
ideals quickly disappear.

* * *

And so here I sit, taking
strength from the society that
may, in a few years, try to
warp and bend my goals into a
sadly unrecognizable shape.

My turn is coming. In two
years the curtain will open and
I'll be rudely and abruptly
plopped on stage. I hope that
in four years at this University
I have learned my lines well. I
hope I won't forget.