ALEXIS SEBRING
Perspectives Assistant
Try looking around the fieldhouse on a Wednesday morning during Chapel. Would you see attentive listeners? Or would you see students attempting to complete homework before their afternoon class begins? The latter best describes how students have forgotten the manners necessary to display respect in front of public speakers. Whether in Chapel, class or church services, proper etiquette is sometimes difficult to uphold. Whichever assembly Pepperdine students attend, it is always important to show respect to speakers because it reflects our school.
Many students, including myself, have mistakenly developed the mindset that speakers at Chapel are immune to a rude audience. It has become the norm to bring laptops, do homework, read or text message during the Wednesday morning meetings. While conforming to these customs, the good manners toward public speakers deteriorate. This puts Pepperdine’s reputation at risk. Also it makes the speakers feel unwelcome.
It is common knowledge that many students do not desire to attend Chapel every Wednesday, but it in indeed required. From the nature of the services, it required to strengthen the Christianity of students and to help others realize their own convictions within their faith.
These are beneficial aspirations, so the school must be commended in helping strengthen students. However, it seems pointless to acquire students to attend these meetings when we bring in these distracting devices.
We should not need rules. We are all adults and should display the responsibility and respect expected from us, without having rules and restrictions from the school. If people need to bring laptops, that is fine, but have the decency to keep them in their backpacks. Or if cell phones need to be on, just turn them on silent and keep them stored away until the end of Chapel. It is so easy to be caught up in communicating with other people while someone else speaks. It should simply be avoided.
The University spends a lot of money to invite the best speakers to the school, in hopes to fortify the student body and inform individuals of relevant issues. To not attend or to zone out during these is wasteful. It is a waste of money and time. Going to Chapel and being mentally absent during the lecture is equivalent to not even going at all.
Even listening to a credible speaker for 30 minutes can be extremely beneficial, especially when the University does its best to find and recruit speakers who have worthwhile things to say.
For example, Nick Vujicic, the young man with no arms or legs, spoke at Chapel and shared the emotional journey he has endured through his life. He spoke about the importance of persevering through all of life’s obstacles, and about how anything is possible. Like every Chapel, the speakers’ topics are relevant to most students. Another speaker discussed the issue of God’s calling in an actor’s life. He talked about an actor leaving everything he had to follow what he perceived as God’s vocation for him. If students paid attention to these brief messages, helpful information could have been derived.
How will we make it easier on ourselves to be polite students during Chapel? It is rude to not pay attention during a speech, but it is hard to focus when our priorities lie somewhere else, such as homework.
If we really focus, it is possible to give our attention to Pepperdine’s guests. With all the hard work put into preparing the speech and the effort presenting it in front of hundreds of students, the student body is sure to learn something worth knowing. It can be worth it to put aside homework and even Facebook for a half an hour once a week.
Going to Chapel without the right mindset will just waste everybody’s time. To demonstrate our interest and appreciation for speakers during Chapel, we students can consider bringing a good attitude and polite manners instead of our laptops.
11-01-2007
