Yesterday, Dr. Adam Breerwood, Vice President at Pearl River Community College, was the guest speaker at the Poplarville Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Luncheon.

After joking that when he becomes president of the college he would abolish extracurricular activities, Breerwood talked about what those activities bring to the students and how they enhance their education.

He spoke at length, and off the cuff, about the diversity at the college and their efforts to incorporate not just pride, respect, class and character, but also introduce the students to spirituality.

Breerwood said his work in administration provides him with the opportunity to sit back and observe one of the most interesting events on campus: move-in day.

While some students bring in truckloads of furniture, clothes, TV’s and games on their first day at PRCC, others arrive with only a simple bag, happy to have made it out of high school.

He described one student who on the first night at college ran outside because they began seeing demons and was forced to receive psychiatric care.

Another student, he said, admitted that her first night in the dorm room was the first night she hadn’t been sexually abused since she was 12-years-old.

Breerwood’s speech caused me to reflect on my own college experience and the diversity between my classmates. There were some that took every day of college for granted, not realizing the opportunities available to them.

Other classmates had to work 20 or more hours a week and live off-campus with their families to be able to afford the tuition.

College is  an eye-opening experience for many young people because it exposes us to different life experiences we haven’t had the chance to learn.

Arguably, I learned more in college from interacting with my peers and instructors than I ever did from a textbook or slideshow presentation.

Those were valuable experiences I would never want to relive again, but certainly serve as a daily reminder of the blessings I’ve been given.