By Cody Johnson
“Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education,” wrote Mark Twain. By being here, reading this, you are, at the very least, cauliflower.
But I have news for you: you can be much more than just cauliflower.
Whether you are more than cauliflower depends on your answer to a fundamental question: what is college?
If college is a place to attend classes and earn a degree, congratulations! You’re cauliflower. If college is a place to have fun and release all your worries before the daunting thing called adulthood, great! You’re purple cauliflower. However, if college is a place for you to discover and pursue new interests, dive deep into your faith, and engage in intentional community, then you have finally become more than cauliflower.
At an alarming rate, Houghton students are forfeiting the very things that help us go deeper. Apathy is endemic. We have disengaged from the opportunities that still exist two years after the pandemic started, and our campus community has suffered for it. You can hear it in the silence of the Campus Engagement Office; you can see it on the dusty Bibles in the prayer chapel. We can only become more than cauliflower and remedy the problem of apathy by engaging in the opportunities we have at Houghton.
First, clubs. And I don’t mean the kind that Houghton students are forbidden from visiting. I mean the kind that brings together diverse groups of people around a common interest. You’ve heard of the Ski Club and Mercy Seat, but have you heard of the Artist’s Guild, the Gadfly Society, Global Christian Fellowship (GCF), the Gospel Choir, Houghton Ballroom and Swing, Journey’s End Tutoring (JET), Paddle Sports, or the Psychology Club? All of these were active before the pandemic. Many stopped meeting during the pandemic with no attempt to revive them. Even those that survived—Ski Club, Mercy Seat, GCF, and JET—are grasping for members. Each of these clubs is an opportunity to learn a new skill and cultivate a community. It might only take an hour out of your week, but the return on investment through relationships and personal growth is immeasurable.
Second, spiritual life. Above any other collective identity, we are a Christian college, yet we seem to have lost sight of the Christian aspect. Faith, especially in a community, is not passive: it requires engaging in worship, prayer, and reflection with other believers. You can scan into chapel legalistically, or you can commit yourself to hearing something that God has prepared for you. I often need to redirect my attention to the service when I am distracted by a text notification or homework that’s due in my next class. Going through the actions is easy, but it only benefits yourself and our community when you do so wholeheartedly. There are other meaningful ways to engage spiritually: Bible studies with your floor or your team, Bible and theology classes, and morning and afternoon prayer. Most mornings, I trudge up Roth hill at 7:20 to attend morning prayer with no more than four other students. Afternoon prayer rarely has any more. Will you be there?
Finally, learning. Students burnt out during the pandemic, and we are still recovering and rediscovering a passion for learning. This begins with professors: students need freedom to explore and relate their own interests. Perhaps the topic of an essay can be flexible, or perhaps students can lead a discussion. Dr. Christian Esh proved the effectiveness of this kind of independence in his Historical and Political Research class last semester. I became a more engaged student because I could research the Germany military while another student researched Native American lore, and our class uniquely came together to support each other and grow as researchers. Our classrooms must return to the model of teaching students how to learn and value learning. Independence, flexibility, and grace–mental health days are always welcome–will cultivate more engaged learners.
It is also our responsibility as students to learn independently. Stop by a professor’s office hour, attend the Faculty Lecture Series, or browse the library’s shelves. It can be hard to find the energy to spend more time thinking, but if you find a topic you love, it can be invigorating. In the long run, you will become more hireable, develop closer relationships with professors, and contribute your unique interests and thoughts to our learning community.
You chose to come to Houghton for a reason. That reason might not have been the student organizations, the spiritual life, or the academics. But while you are here in this community, you have an opportunity—perhaps even a responsibility—to engage in those things. You owe it to yourself and to us to engage wholeheartedly. When you do, our community will be better for it. We will finally be more than cauliflower.
You chose to come to Houghton for a reason. That reason might not have been the student organizations, the spiritual life, or the academics. But while you are here in this community, you have an opportunity—perhaps even a responsibility—to engage in those things. You owe it to yourself and to us to engage wholeheartedly. When you do, our community will be better for it. We will finally be more than cauliflower. ★
