Wait, you’re saying that a reasonably rowdy 3-year-old could knock you out cold? You should still join our wrestling club. Maybe you’ll discover your true calling!
You find it difficult simply to speak coherently with correct grammar? So what? We’re always on the lookout for new, inexperienced writers!
And I actually fell for it last semester. After having already signed up for an embarrassing number of activities I was not remotely interested in, either through guilt, an obsessive craving for the Reese’s Pieces chocolate displayed oh-so-temptingly on the table or downright coercion from tall and scary Taekwondo guys, my judgment was severely impaired. Despite my much-ridiculed reputation for clumsiness, I signed up for beginners’ hip-hop dance classes. I was comforted by the fact that the program very clearly and soothingly said “Beginners” in big, reassuring letters. I naively fell into the trap of believing that I was destined to become a star and that this was where I would be discovered.
Let me clarify something. Princeton beginners are not your average beginners.
Princeton beginners are “I was born with an innate sense of rhythm and coordination; I can already dance and I’m obscenely good at it; I’m just looking to perfect my technique” beginners. The rest of my class spent the hour smoothly and rhythmically moving their bodies in ways that I was utterly convinced my body could not move. I spent it absentmindedly wondering whether my dance instructor and I truly shared the same genetic basis and, purely for the sake of at least looking like I was doing something productive, watching myself in the mirror — and having the grace to giggle a little.
I ultimately managed to find a dance group a little more, shall we say, suited to my talents (or lack thereof) — but for the students who didn’t, what now? The cycle is repeating itself all over again with the start of spring semester. What can the people rejected from a cappella groups do with their talent? Princeton doesn’t have any singing groups for “beginners.” Most cheerfully tell me, “I’ll try out next time!” but why should they have to? Do people who want to learn to dance or sing for the first time in their lives — exactly the students that classes like mine claim to be targeted toward — simply have to accept that they are inferior to everyone in their class and try to go forward from there?
The problem is that few Princetonians are really beginners. Most incoming students are already extraordinarily talented in at least a couple of ways and perhaps are focused on honing their old talents as opposed to developing a new one. As a result, every group makes certain assumptions about its new members. The Running Club may assume that every member already has enough stamina and speed to keep up with them, Mock Trial may assume that you’re fluent in current affairs and are reasonably good at public speaking. Groups meant for beginners inevitably have members advanced well beyond that and often demand tryouts, auditions or interviews to ascertain whether or not you’re good enough for them. So where do the people who are genuinely breaking out of their comfort zones fit in?
Perhaps they don’t fit in anywhere as much as they ought to. The University has always stated that it is committed to teaching students to broaden their horizons, push their boundaries and explore aspects of their personalities that they weren’t aware of. This attitude is reflected in the diversity of the distribution requirements. But this commitment hasn’t translated to non-academic campus life as much as it should have. The University should devote more attention to creating classes that are genuinely intended for complete novices, or maybe the campus is simply in need of more groups — wait, is that possible? — that target students with absolutely no experience. Either way, students deserve the opportunity to develop the breadth that they expect from the Princeton experience, as opposed to merely depth in familiar territory.
Camille Framroze is a freshman from Bombay, India. She can be reached at framroze@princeton.edu.
Read More
Why can’t lecturers win the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching?
Jerry ZhuLet’s acknowledge those who make “boutique teaching” possible, those who work tirelessly to make our rigorous curricula more accessible, and those who dedicate their time to advising and guiding us through all the challenges we face at this University. Lecturers should be eligible for the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Let’s acknowledge those who make “boutique teaching” possible, those who work tirelessly to make our rigorous curricula more accessible, and those who dedicate their time to advising and guiding us through all the challenges we face at this University. Lecturers should be eligible for the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Princeton’s administration of justice is Trumpian
Frances BroganThe disparity between the University’s approach to Giberson and its approach to pro-Palestinian protestors reflects a concerning trend of appeasing an increasingly emboldened right rather than resisting the threat it poses to academic freedom and the wellbeing of Princeton students.
Secular Opening Exercises? Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water
Frank StrasburgerThe secular makes no room for the spiritual. What Opening Exercises are meant to convey is the spirit of the institution so that it may be kept alive from generation to generation.
The secular makes no room for the spiritual. What Opening Exercises are meant to convey is the spirit of the institution so that it may be kept alive from generation to generation.
