Beyond Academics: Excellence at Brigham Young University

Today’s colleges provide fantastic amounts of information. From languages to physics to early childhood education, colleges and universities provide a wide variety of academic subjects. But what else do they teach? Are they turning out the kind of young people we would like to have in our day-to-day lives?

I have had the privilege of living in America, literally from sea-to-shining-sea and beyond. My living experience includes a number of years in Europe, and a tour in Central America. I have seen a number of levels of behavior through the years.
In my humble experience, people have become more rude. Customer service suffers as staff chat on the phone. The other day, I was attempting to depart my local library with a sizable stack of books and two children, one of whom was conveniently throwing a temper tantrum. A young lady in her late teens was standing in the lobby, talking on her cell phone, and glaring me as I struggled out the door. 

I smiled at her, as I bashed my knee against the door I was struggling to open, and said, “Thank you so much for opening the door for me. I really appreciate you noticing I needed help.”

Such is life in America in the 21st century. 

There is one glimmer of hope, though. One place where courtesy, even chivalry, reigns. 

Today I went to the campus of Brigham Young University, to exercise my alumni library privileges. (I love libraries.) Again, I had a stack of books to my chin, but no children with me this time. It’s a bit of a hike from visitor parking to the library. 

Out of the blue, a young lady came up beside me and said, “Are you going to the library? Here, let me take some of those.”
That’s not the first time to experience courtesy on campus, either.