EDITOR'S NOTE: In 1970, young folks were facing uncertainty as the Vietnam war drug on and drugs took its toll on and off campus. Alcohol was the rage as was dissent and questioning among many, but not all students. The following is a letter, published in the Unonian, a yearbook published by Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio. Through it, a departing senior opens his heart, reflecting on lessons learned over four years of college life that ended in spring of 1970. The advise he gave then remains solid and true today. --colombo

Spring Term, 1970

Dear Underclassmen,

Today I am looking at Mount Union for the last time as one of her students. It is a long, last look which I take with mixed emotions of eagerness to leave and nostalgia for all the happy times spent here in the last four years.

When I came here as a freshman, you thought twice before you lit a cigarette in public, drank off campus with caution, and, for the most part, enjoyed tradition. Our big problems then seemed petty in comparison to the ones we face today, and the pastimes of four years ago, contrasted, seem incredibly naïve. But I also feel that my experiences here in four years have brought me to some significant realizations:

• I once thought that June of 1970 would mean the end of learning-I now know that it is the beginning, and that I have spent my years here learning how to learn.
• I have discovered that to be wrong is often a more didactic position than being right, although infinitely more painful.
• I have learned humility by joining in relationships with others whose intelligence dwarfs mine to tiny proportions by comparison, yet increases mine by association.
• I have learned to look inside an individual to judge his worth; and I think I have earned the right to be judged this way by others.

To my great surprise, I find that I am already in the position of a conservative in comparison to many of you. I watch myself shaking my head and saying, "Why in the good old days, we…." You'll say it, too. And, like me, you'll give advice, as I am about to, without knowing if you really have the right to give it.

Mount Union is offering you four years in which to make yourself into the person you most want to be. Use them wisely-be mature, look for the worth inside your peers and elders, don't be afraid to learn something-reach out.

Good Luck,
A Senior