Ramona Lumpkin, PhD Principal, Huron University College 2001 ...

14
O-WeeK
even in second year, I had no idea
what I was going to do after university. I
had tried a business course, economics,
english and history and my major was
French. If we had received report cards
with comments, mine would have said;
“Lacks focus”. But it was in one of my
philosophy classes that we studied some
elements of the philosophy of law that I
began to see that law might eventually
be a career for me.
Recently, I was flipping through a few
of my old yearbooks and aside from a
few very bad haircuts and lumberjack
shirts, I recognized and remembered
almost all of the people who were at
Huron when I was. Living in residence
greatly contributed to my experience
at Huron. Living on my own away
from home for the first time and in
residence with others, and participating
in university life, were integral to my
education. But I had to learn to do what
worked for me.
I remember one particularly gifted
friend of mine who was on our floor.
When I was in first year one of the
toughest courses on main campus was
organic chemistry and he was the only
person I knew taking this course. There
were both classes and an additional
five hours of labs per week in this
course and apparently the class average
hovered around 40%.
My friend never went to this class,
and I was absolutely amazed when
he cracked his textbook for the first
time the night before the final exam.
He ended up near the top of the class
with a grade of 75%. He also later got a
perfect mark on his LSAT. I knew I was
not this smart and that I had to study
diligently to get decent marks. And to
this day I remember studying for final
exams when it was sunny and warm
for the two weeks from April 15th to
April 30th, and how hard it was to stay
on task. Unless you are as smart as my
friend was, I hope you will put in the
time throughout the year and when you
need to during exams.
The final point I want to make is
that you should make the most of your
time at Huron. Try new things, don’t
worry overly about making mistakes,
and become actively involved in your
education. I know that you will do that
because you are already here.
Thank you and good luck to
everybody!