DATE: Friday, September 19, 1997            TAG: 9709190075

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CHARIZZA S.S. RODGERS, COLLEGE CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   38 lines

CAMPUS LIFE IS LIKE ISLAND LIFE, SAFE AND OUT OF TOUCH

IN MANY WAYS, I consider Hampton University and other college campuses to be islands. On these islands, students and teachers rarely have to worry about the outside world - reality. We have a sense of security. We're safe from all the ills that bring down society outside of our island.

On our islands, we're shielded from outside influences. Violence, theft, poverty - all those ``not-so-nice'' things in life - are other people's problems. Our problems are small in comparison. We need only worry about our grades, our teachers and our financial aid.

As inhabitants of these islands, we try to relate to the real world through past experiences. We don't feel the need to watch the news or read the newspaper. Instead, we keep abreast of the outside world through casual conversation across a table at a campus restaurant. We hear filtered down accounts from other students and teachers.

Reality rarely invades our precious islands. We focus on our books and our social lives and tend to forget about all that is going on around us.

Surprise! Life still is going on across the water, outside our sheltered sanctuaries. And, one day, we're going to have to become a part of the real world - the world apart from Hampton or any other university.

It won't be easy, but we can take steps now that will prepare us for the challenges that lay ahead. We can watch the news or read the newspaper and think critically about the events around us. By so doing, we'll be better prepared for the future, for reality.

Sure, we don't always want to hear about the turmoil going on outside our island boundaries, but it's something we need to hear. Besides, if it ever gets to be too much, we can turn off the television or put down the newspaper.

But once we leave our islands for good, we won't have that liberty. We won't have the shelter the islands have provided. However, we will be better adapted than those who choose to remain on the island. MEMO: Charizza S.S. Rodgers is a junior at Hampton University.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu