Disorientation adjusts students to UCLA life

Monday, June 29, 1998

Disorientation adjusts students to UCLA life

ORIENTATION: Confusion of college doesn’t stop once you’ve found
Royce Hall

Getting an education at UCLA is seismic restructuring for your
mind, which makes perfect sense because UCLA’s Statue of Liberty,
Royce Hall, just opened this past winter after renovations were
completed. Orientation is the unveiling of your college plans –
you’ve sneaked a peak, you’ve maybe even visited a few of the
"architects," but you haven’t seen the pages and pages of plans
UCLA has for you.

First you must understand that we measure our matriculation (if
you’re confused, "matriculation" in this context is a student’s
progress through school) by the number of years we have been here
at UCLA, not by class year. For example, I’m a transfer student,
which makes me a fourth-year second-year – confusing, don’t you
think? Transfer students fit into that "other" category, so
basically if you asked me what year in school I am, I can’t exactly
say second because in your mind you’re thinking, "He’s a
sophomore," which isn’t even really true.

From the beginning, most transfers will revert back to the old
convention and tell you that they’re "juniors," not "third-year
first-years." "Third-year" because this is their third year of
college and "first-year" because this is their first year at
UCLA.

Like transfer students, seniors – just like all students – have
an identity crisis. I’m not really sure what year in school I am
now because this is the summer, and I finished my third-year/junior
year of college, and I have senior standing. So does that make me a
senior? I’m not sure, because I haven’t begun my senior year, but I
do like the sound of "senior."

Maybe I should be a three-and-a-half year, because I’m between
the third year and the fourth year, but that’s just as confusing as
saying that I’m a second-year student, now isn’t it?

How about I go with pre-senior, because this is before my senior
year, but I’m not quite a senior yet, so that may work. I’m a
pre-senior (I’m not yet, but I will be).

Confusing, don’t you think? Well, that may be how you feel now,
because most of you are just getting used to a new campus; you’ll
be moving into the dorms or an apartment, and you’ll be doing a lot
of new (and sometimes uncomfortable) things. Maybe you’re just a
little disoriented, but remember this is seismic restructuring and
not a complete demolition. Unexpected changes should be expected;
even the architects who built Royce Hall couldn’t predict the
Northridge earthquake.

Perhaps you’re saying, "But Royce Hall did look like that before
the earthquake, right?" Well yes it did. For those of you who
haven’t seen Royce Hall yet, they planned 52 imperfections into the
design for the hall: the towers aren’t symmetrical, a window here
and window there – it’s all very confusing.

And the most surprising thing is that they didn’t build it in
the ’60s, because if they did, we would understand – the plant
foreman drops acid, a few workers do some marijuana, and there you
have it: Royce Hall.

But that didn’t happen (or at least I don’t think that
happened). But don’t worry about it, we all get used to Royce Hall
(and some of us even grow to love it).

Speaking of confusion, have you selected a major yet? (I’m
sorry, I’m sorry … maybe I shouldn’t have written that.) I’m sure
many of you aren’t sure of what to major in, and even those of you
who have a major don’t know what to do with the rest of your life;
it’s OK, you’re just a little disoriented.

To be perfectly open and forthright about the whole orientation
experience (experience makes it seems more important), I think it
would be too ambitious to say that you will be completely oriented
with the UCLA world by the time you leave here. You won’t see it
all over a short period of time and you’ll still be getting to know
the campus through the years – that’s part of the fun.

For the first few weeks of class you’ll be using a map to find
your classes, then you’ll get used it. And, I’m sorry, the
confusion doesn’t stop there. I’m sure that you’ll get the
professor who will turn your world upside-down, so the sky is green
and the grass is blue. And I hope you like to read, otherwise,
you’ll be pretty disoriented throughout the year.

But whatever you do, your life won’t go according to your plans.
And I wouldn’t suggest that you purposely make mistakes a la Royce
Hall. I’ve always wondered about those mistakes. According to the
UCLA tour guides, the builders of Royce Hall said, "Only God can
make something that’s perfect." OK, I suppose that makes sense, but
then are the building planners assuming that if they didn’t make
mistakes, they were going to make a perfect building? I hope
not.

What I want is for someone to find the other mistakes they made
in building Royce Hall and put a little asterisk with a mistake
adjustment added to the 52 imperfections. I’m sure they made plenty
of mistakes, but I suppose that covering them up with premeditated
mistakes was just an attempt at misdirection. Perhaps they were
just trying to confuse you.

David Allison, the master architect of the confusion, used a
Milan, Italy, basilica as a model for Royce Hall. And, if you’re
curious, Royce Hall is named for Josiah Royce, a leading
philosopher of the time.

Philosophers may not have all the answers, but they’re usually
quotable; Josiah Royce certainly was.

On either side of the main entrance are doors leading into the
hall’s auxiliary rooms.

Above the west door is a quotation from Plato: "They should
learn beforehand the knowledge which they will require for their
art." Above the east door is a Royce quotation: "The world is a
progressively realized community of interpretation."

Philosophers at least attempt to diffuse the confusion that life
brings. Some people feel that philosophers are fools, who would –
if given the chance – marvel at a pen cap’s ability to keep the pen
from drying out and be safely storable on top when in use. But
philosophers do offer more to humanity, and yes, I do believe that
the quotations outside Royce Hall do make at least a little
sense.

Certainly I don’t think that philosophy attempts to clear up the
confusion about who’s a first-year or a junior, and I don’t think
that Plato ever gave out college tips for the 20th-century student.
To my knowledge he never came up with a book called "Choosing a
Major: College Made Easy by Plato," so I guess you’re going to have
to deal with the confusion.

So maybe Plato’s statement appearing on Royce Hall doesn’t seem
to help much; it seems like a statement of the obvious to me. I
suppose that Plato didn’t have all the answers (and he probably
didn’t claim to have them either).

What Royce had to say is perhaps just as confusing. Sounds
sophisticated, doesn’t it? Basically, his point is that life is
based on a legacy of ideas fostered by personal point of view.
Brilliant? Perhaps, maybe you should decide.

Wisdom etched in stone can be enlightening, but I’m sure that
many of you are here at UCLA registered as psychology or
engineering students.

Many of you will go through major changes and sit in your
counselor’s office trying to decide which direction you should
take; you’ll stare out the window looking at Royce Hall and wonder
if they really did that on purpose or if they just tried to cover
up their mistakes. I’ll let you decide, but either way, mistakes
can be an art or an embarrassment; it’s all a matter of
orientation.

Spencer Hill