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| Landon Lauder Class of 2017 |
What’s down there? Do I have time to go down it and see what is there? Am I able to get out of it?
What even is a rabbit hole?
Perhaps your mind immediately gravitates towards Alice in Wonderland or maybe a bad childhood experience where you may have actually gotten your foot stuck in such a hidden gap and tore your ankle. Think of something in between that. That’s college.
The original questions I posed fit quite nicely with students who have reached the intersection between doing what they have been coached to do their entire lives or to explore something new. Some people (and poor souls they may be) never get to this point and are always playing on the grassy fields and never stumble upon a rabbit hole either intentionally or accidentally.
What’s this class about? Will I be able to change majors and still graduate? Am I able to switch back or even get a job afterwards?
These are questions that float around near the front of many (not all) students’ minds once they become accustomed to the college environment, especially those who are looking for rabbit holes or accidentally stepped into one. Questions like these float around in my mind daily on a variety of different topics.
I’ve only been here at UofL for four semesters, but I’ve learned more than what can fit into a fifty-minute or hour and a half long lecture. I’ve hit many rabbit holes and it’s a surprise I can still stand. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Neither should anyone in college or about to go to college.
Sure, college is a lot about grassy fields. But to those who truly understand it, it’s for being thankful you’ve found something new, something that challenges you that is a polar opposite from what you’ve heard for about two decades.
Look for rabbit holes. Step in them purposefully. Step in them accidentally. It may hurt, but you’ll always find something new.
Landon Lauder is a sophomore McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. He studies psychology and political science.