by Dr. Amber Smallwood
I've never been someone who knows today's date. I cannot count the number of times I've struggled to come up with even the correct month. Much of my work lately has involved signing and dating forms to distribute to various departments on campus. In the blur of late afternoon, maybe last week or so,I looked desperately around my office for a clue to the date. That's when I noticed the calendar hung beside my desk--did I put that there? I scanned the weeks looking for something that seemed familiar and right; something that would resonate as "today." Struggling, I shifted from scanning the weeks to examining the month--July 2013. Yep, it's been nearly 9 months since I updated my wall calendar.
And it seemed the perfect metaphor for not only life in general, but that of a university campus, and especially for spring on a university campus. Unlike the fall semester that seems to unfold itself over time, so orderly, then after a small stumble over Thanksgiving, it slides easily into winter break; the spring semester, in its eagerness from week one, begins the process of hurling itself, building momentum, increasing acceleration, toward graduation and summer.
This spring--2014--has proven the rule and not let a day go by without forcing us to notice the glory of what the University of West Georgia has to offer. From presentations of outstanding undergraduate research (more than 18 presentations in the College of Social Sciences alone) to a lecture on the history and future of the Cherokee language to more than 50 presentations of research by students in our own renowned Psychology program to a series of inspiring talks given by community leaders on ways to "honor community" to a series of talks in the community led by our faculty discussing important political issues to recognizing the accomplishments of our own faculty and staff in addition to our students on Honors Day to a family-friendly open house to learn about local archaeology to paying tribute to our veterans by "just listening" to celebrating new relationships between Criminology at UWG and Criminal Justice at WGTC to welcoming prospective students at Preview Days to recognizing our alumni at the annual Alumni Awards Gala. It is no wonder we find ourselves, every spring, in search of evidence of today and its differentiation from yesterday and tomorrow. Spring is, in nature and on this campus, truly a celebration of the glory of life.
Forgive the occasional error, missing today's date by a few days...or even a decade as I found myself doing recently. It's spring, after all. Let's bask in its every moment.
Dr. Amber Smallwood is the associate dean of the College of Social Sciences.
