Derek Owens chapter, Boredom
and Hyperboredom, succeeded in leaving me thinking. I found myself at first
skeptical but then, after contemplating, in agreement. Hyperboredom is not a
very concrete concept, it is not palpable. Yet, from my personal experience I
have witnessed it. I would liken Owens to Christopher Columbus, discovering and
putting a name to something that already exists. I think hyperboredom sounds
like depression.
The phenomenon is interesting, nevertheless. Owens
declares, “at the root of hyperboredom is the misconception that self and world
are separate,” (68) I agree with said statement. I think our society, system of
governance, and economic system play a large part in this separation. In the
recent past, I realized there are not many job opportunities in Athens. This is
my home town and I feel the expectation from my parents to leave and find work
elsewhere, to build a life. I think they were feed the same message along with
countless others. This expectation leads to a loss of connection to place.
Athens is my home and community. I understand experiencing other cultures is
good to broaden horizons but at the same time why wouldn't I stay to benefit
the area?
The way our society views life seems to cause
restlessness and hyperboredom. Every stage of life seems to be a waiting ground
for the next. Starting as children we cannot wait until adulthood, we go to
college in order to find a job, we find a job inured to settle down and be financially
stable enough to support a family, we raise a family so we will have sons and
daughters to support us when we are old. However cynical this view maybe, I
feel the constant pressure to focus on the future. This focus seems to keep people
from focusing on the place, both literal and figurative, they are experiencing.
Near the end of the chapter, Owens hits on the
expectations of college faculty, saying “Faculty are deemed best suited to
their jobs when they are aliens and strangers who, Clint Eastwood-like, ride
into the university from parts unknown, from places deemed exotic because they
are anywhere but “here.”” (73) It’s funny since I have been going to school at
Ohio University I have not had a professor from the area, they may all live in Athens
but almost none were born or raised here. This caused me to consider Ohio
University under a more critical lense.
Ohio University
attracts students with the beauty of its surroundings. Yet it seems very
disconnected from Athens. It exists solely to benefit its temporary residents
and does little for the people stashed away in the hills that surround it. Ohio
University has bought up almost half of the
city of Athens. There is a great deal of contempt for Ohio University from the
surrounding community as it choses candidates for jobs over equally qualified
locals or how a small amount of the local community has attended Ohio University.
It would seem logical that a university would exist to benefit the immediate
area but instead Ohio University draws a large portion of its students from
cities across the state.
The importance of place seems to have faded as we have
entered the modern era. We have great amenities, like being able to travel
great distances in a short amount of time. The only community and attachment to
place seems to be the school system and is really only for parents and
students. Student sports games bring people together and help to form a
community, but I think more events and connections must be created in order to
help attain an attachment to place.
I definitely feel you touched on some interesting points in this piece especially in regards to Ohio University. It is a puzzling idea that most of the knowledge is coming from outside of the city, but I feel this is for better more then it is is worse. Athens is a great city filled with many bright young minds i do not question that. But if we employed more then 50% of our educators from this area I feel we would be taking 5 steps back in the educations of these students. By bringing in different minds from many parts of the world we not only get knowledge from around the world, but more importantly we get new ideas and styles of learning. By bringing these people in we get new perspectives on education and life. Seeing through someone else's eyes, while also having a diverse dynamic community. That being said the natives of Athens who prepare to attend this college need a striving shot at education. Many of the people growing up in Athens have a good stable family taht wants their children to go to college and receive a degree. But sadly, many families cannot afford for their kids to go to school so they prepare them for other aspects of life. But by having one these two patterns students can stay out of trouble and have their time occupied. "With ones nose close to the soil... there is no room for hyperbordeom" says that as long as they are doing something and trying to make something no matter how close or far, then they have a striving shot. So by having these foreign educators teachers these local students at Ohio University, those students can receive the knowledge and ideas necessary for life outside of Athens and go on to do great things with their lives.
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