Summer at Brown University
College Initiative Program - Summer 1991

"The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn."
- David Russel

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From the summer@Brown website:

Seven-week Courses
As a seven-week student, you'll learn about life on a college campus. By the end of your seven weeks at Brown, given freedom and responsibility for yourself and your summer community, you will be a different person. Your perspective on life and academics will be enriched by the faculty who taught you, the residential advisors who assisted you in making the transition from high school student to college student, and the friends you have made from around the world.

Seven-week courses are carefully selected from existing courses in the Brown undergraduate curriculum or are newly created for the summer. Each course is approved by Brown's College Curriculum Council for academic quality, appropriate workload, and equivalency to first-year Brown courses. Students who live on campus take two courses.

You will receive grades and can request an official University transcript for your seven-week course work. In addition, you will be coached to think beyond the "gotta have an A" trap. You will be encouraged to challenge yourself to explore subject matter in depth and to engage in the process of learning. You will retain more knowledge and think more effectively.

I have attached the following essay I wrote about Brown used for some of my college essays. I did not change anything from the original written during the Fall of 1991.

Brown Is More Than A Color
(A few journal entries from this summer)

Friday, July 12, 1991
It’s only midnight. A cool summer breeze blows by in the street, and there is conversation erupting from a third floor dorm room. The room is filled with people from all across the country, lights, pizza, coke, a Game Boy, and homework - another average night that has just begun for me at the Brown College Initiative Program. "Gimme a piece of pepperoni," I demand from my roommate, Rakesh.
"You guys got pizza? May I have some?" Sari pondered.
"Door’s open, isn't it," I rattle off with a grin. Why wouldn't I give away some of my pizza? It's only money, and money is no substitute for a simple "Thanks." "Oh sure, have a Coke too," I add only to realize that Sari has already opened one.
"Do you have a bunch of homework again?"
"Yeah."
"Why do you always have homework? Why didn't you take easy classes like the rest of us."
That sparked Rakesh to chip in, "Hey, my classes aren't easy."
"Maybe not, but they're easier than mine." Well, maybe I am right or maybe I am wrong. Maybe it is me. I could have very easily blown off my homework and slid through my two classes. But I care. "Education is a gift, not a guarantee."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Thomas, fellow newspaper staff member, chimed in.
"I don't really know for sure." But I did. For the first time I realized that school is an open door ready to be walked through. It is there for me - the possibilities are relatively endless. I add a simple "nothing."
"Stenning, are you still doing the Argument reading? You know we don't have to read it," Cara, a friend in the class, pointed out while munching on some stale chips.
"I know. But I want to. Besides, 'A Modest Proposal' is interesting. Swift just might have a point. And if I don’t, I might have to eat some of those chips." The night went on with more pizza, fighting over who gets the next game of Tetris, and finishing my homework. This is what school can be: A test of life, not a pop quiz.

Thursday, July 18
Today, while meeting with Mr. Pingree, my writing professor, to discuss a paper, he laughs, "'Beggars are like dirt'? Don't you think that's a bit strong, Stenning?"
"Well, yeah. But I just wanted to try something new. I wanted a good clinching analogy. I wanted a metaphor with might."
"But you will find yourself turning off many of your readers."
"Oh. Well, I'm here bothering you so I can learn how to write better. Maybe I should change it to..." We talked in the basement of the department office for almost two hours on this steaming summer day. Before it was over, we discussed how to create more pleasing metaphors, about the future of the Bulls, his family, college life, my possible college plans, and that young adults are easy to talk to. This is what college should be like: Close teacher to student contact, individualism, and opportunity.

Monday, July 29
"You're wierd," Julia emphasized.
Exactly, I think to myself. "Come on Julia. You say that everyday. Can't you think of anything original? How about something like, ‘Stenning, you would be a good poster child for planned parenthood.’ Or why don't you admit that the newsletter is inferior to the yearbook?"
"Not until you admit you stink at tennis."
"I already told you. You're better at tennis than I am. You won fair and square. But I guess I have to maintain my 'masculinity' don't I? You won only because I had to play uphill on both sides; there was a constant wind blowing in my face the whole match, ..."
"You're so wierd. Did you get that cartoon done?"
"Yeah. I already gave it to Thomas, but we still need to finish up this weeks Top Ten list."
"All right. I'll be down the hall."
"I know. But I won't hold it against you." She gives me a perplexed look as she vanishes out the door. They are just down the hall, only a few steps away. Because I see women all day, everyday, there is no mystique or false facade. I am able to meet them for who they are - not who they need to be to impress guys. It is fascinating to get rid of all the cheerleader uniforms and meet the people behind the make-up. I am able to get closer to people here than at home. The door swings farther open.

Friday, August 2 - Opening (And Closing) Night
I suddenly hesitate. I look up past the bright lights and see over a hundred people looking at me. Well, they have nothing better to do. I am the only one on the stage. I continue, "I have been held prisoner behind a stone wall... and finally someone has given me a leg up to look at the other side." I emphasize everything my director told me and expressing it just the way Morgan, my character, would. It didn't take me long before I realize that Morgan's words are very meaningful to people my age. He had been to college to experience it and did not want to come back. It was such an open ended route for him. I feel just like Morgan.
"You were awesome," John yells as he jumps on to the stage, flowers in hand, after the show. I don't feel like a Broadway star, yet I am proud to have tried something new. I should make an Army commercial, "Be all that you can be... Be yourself." All right, I'll change it a little.

Sunday, August 4
"Hey Stenning. I like your last newsletter article," Bij states.
"You're just saying that because you want a Coke."
"No, I'm serious."
"Thanks. Then just have a smile." And suddenly I too realized what I had written. It was interesting. I began writing it with no plan and it turned into an almost unconscious essay about Brown. It covers everything from static cling to everlasting friendship.
"What does, 'College is not school, it's an experience...' mean," Bij questioned.
"You don't know? Think about it." And with that, I grab my stuff to walk down to Ben and Jerry’s for some ice cream.

Thursday, August 8
I sit at the coffee shop table admiring my surroundings: cheap wallpaper; wobbly tables; paper coffee cups; and my friends John, Tom, and Jenny, along with Tanvi. Tanvi, my Global Political Economy professor, is talking to us about our futures. The atmosphere is great. It is my last night at Brown, all our work is over, and the tests are completed. It is only nine o'clock and I am spending it with one of my teachers discussing colleges. "I'm not really sure where I want to go."
"Hmm. You'll know better after your tour. But I know that wherever you go you'll be happy. You've got such an inquisitive and curious mind, and I just have a gut feeling that you'll go far." With that Tanvi looked at me with a hint of challenge in her eye.
"I don't know. I want a liberal arts school where I won't get lost in the crowd. I don’t want to get lost in my education."
"Just keep in touch and tell me where you go."
"O.k." After finishing our conversations and our cokes, we said our good-byes and departed. I returned to the dorm to find people packing, studying for their last tests, or getting their last words in with their friends. Tanvi was there everyday for us. She teaches because she wants to see the excitement in our eyes. I understand now that to teach isn't a job - it's a passion. With the relationships that I formed with both of my teachers, I was able to grasp some of that passion and convert it to my own enthusiasm. That is learning.

Thursday, August 8 - Later tonight
Seven weeks never seemed like a shorter time. "I can't believe it's already over. It seems like just yesterday that I thought fifty pages of reading a night was a lot."
"I know," Rakesh agreed, "when do you have to leave tomorrow?"
"Seven."
"You suck. You better come to New Jersey sometime."
"I will. After all, my mom has been asking me to check the beach for another set of used hypodermic needles."
"Shut up."
"I'm just kidding."
"Yeah, I know. You always are. Can you test me on some stuff for my exam tomorrow morning?"
"I can't believe you have to take a test tomorrow. You know that you're not going to get any sleep tonight. No one will."
"Yeah."
"All right, all right. Gimme the book. What is...."
Rakesh and I babble on about the digestive system of a cat while in the back of my mind I scream for something real to say. He is my first roommate and he is great. More than a friend, a companion. We talk about everything - from women to the Gulf War. I'll miss him.

Saturday, August 16
I returned home today. Home isn't the same. Am I really at "home?" I just read the journal I had kept at Brown. I started to read, "I'm glad that I'm here. The same routine at home gets old quickly. Besides, look at all the cool people I've met. The mixture of race, religion, and ideologies is fascinating to me... I'm having a blast. It's good to get away from Barrington and learn what another world is like." How am I ever going to pay for my phone bill? Memories of the best summer of my life - so far. College. Education is a gift, not a guarantee.

Last night group shot (L to R): Cara, John, Rayudu, Josh, Thomas, Me, Sari, Sudhir, Rakesh, Jeff

Under construction

**All photographs (unless otherwise noted) are the property of Stenning Schueppert and may not be distributed or circulated for any purposes (personal or commercial) without his express written consent. Questions or comments regarding selected photographs are, of course, welcome.
Last updated May 23, 2001.