McGill boasts an undergraduate enrollment of 22,778 students. A little overwhelmed? I am.
While many students face the difficult choice of large vs. small school, I always knew I wanted the former. Even my high school graduating class of 714 students felt too small-town for me. Nonetheless, I appreciate that there are distinct pros and cons to different school sizes, and recently I have given a lot of thought to what I consider to be one of the biggest problems with attending a large school: the psychological stress of feeling like I need to stand out. Only since coming to McGill have I been asking myself, “what makes me special, what makes me unique?” And often, I find myself failing to answer this question adequately.
Luckily, there is a solution to this problem. We must first recognized that we are forced by the sheer size of this school to ask the wrong question. We are encouraged to find something about ourselves so distinctly unique that no one else can claim to have that quality, when in fact, the opposite is true – it is our distinct qualities that allow us to make connections with other people who have similarly distinct, if not one-of-a-kind, attributes. When walking into Leacock 132, surrounded by nearly 1,000 students, one might naturally feel alone and wonder, “what makes me stand out? What separates me from these masses of students?” However, what’s important is not finding one unique quality to separate us from others, but one relatable quality that brings us together. Being unique only matters as far as it allows us to make connections and form friendships with other people, because we enjoy each other’s company, share common interests, and find each other friendly, fun, and worth getting to know better. The whole concept of trying to be unique places unnecessary emphasis on individuals as if we are all alone.
I always enjoyed those commercials for Dos Equis beer, the ones that featured “the most interesting man in the world.” The well-written ads humorously call to attention the fact that the title of “interesting” is simply not attainable in the ways we think it is – it’s not the result of trips to exotic countries, meeting celebrities or speaking dozens of languages. Being interesting is the sum of little quirks, hobbies and stories that connect us to others. It means developing as a person and having friends with whom to exchange experiences and learn from. We do not “stand out” by having 1,000 people know who we are because we “did X” or “are Y,” but finding our places among smaller groups of friends who appreciate us as individuals. That’s the thing about being “interesting,” – it only works in the context of being applied toward others and their interests.
While McGill’s huge size might have us questioning what makes us special, it also makes it easy to solve that problem if we re-formulate our question to “how can we meet and form friendships with people that bring out our best qualities?” Instead of trying to feel like one in a million – or 22,778 – students, we must learn to feel special for the connections we make with others. Ultimately, a huge university is built on the interactions and relationships between individuals, just like any other school.
But wait…
While there may be no such thing as “the most interesting man in the world,” I must finish off with my favourite lines from the commercials:
- The police often question him just because they find him interesting.
- Once while sailing around the world, he discovered a shortcut.
- His signature won a Pulitzer.
- He once won the Tour-de-France, but was disqualified for riding a unicycle.
- He once turned a vampire into a vegetarian.
- When in Rome, they do as HE does.
Photo sources:
http://flask.com/wp-content/uploads/dos-equis-most-interesting-guy-in-the-world-300×300.jpeg
http://coachingforinspiration.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/standing-out.jpg