It is often said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. For the more mild-mannered and soft-spoken among us, perhaps that is the case.
While imitation and flattery are all very well, respect is something frequently neglected and all too often ignored. Nevertheless, respect for someone or something is perhaps an even greater form of flattery. Criticism, to me, is the sincerest and most often denigrated form of respect.
During my time as a columnist and editor for Pipe Dream, I have found many an occasion to criticize the University for anything and everything. That said, my four years here at Binghamton University have been among the best and most memorable of my life.
Criticizing the University has not been an activity born of loathing and disrespect, but rather of disappointment. The things for which I have criticized the University over the past few years have been things that came as disappointments, things I thought the University was above.
There are few things as disheartening as being disappointed by someone or something in which you have placed your confidence — be it an athletics team, an individual or an institution. It is for this reason that writing columns and raising awareness is critical to the improvement of ourselves, the University and society as a whole.
“Constructive criticism,” painful though it may seem at the time, is how everything gets done. It isn’t enough to be critical, it is also important to emphasize specific ways in which changes could be enacted and to have a knowledge of what might be preferable.
Writing opinion columns has been my attempt to better the University. While writing about the things that should be changed, and the ways in which I think they could be changed, has helped to keep me relatively sane, I also hope that it has increased administration awareness. It’s easy to miss the forest for the trees when you aren’t immediately affected by a problem, and that’s what makes opinion writing so important, particularly in a university setting.
Ultimately, I believe that criticism is the antidote for apathy. In criticizing something, we show that we care enough to weigh the alternatives and really ponder the various solutions to a problem. If we weren’t happy here, our criticisms would reflect that superficial discontent. I only hope that my criticisms have helped, in some small way, to change things for the better.
Thank you, Binghamton: you’ve made me happy enough to focus on everything that hasn’t lived up to my expectations.