On the other hand, there are the students. Really,
a class wouldn’t be a class without its students. After
experiencing a mere fraction of their usual Wednesday,
reporting on these fascinating people becomes a complex
thing. They explain to me how they’ve been exploring
all different ways of looking at time, one of them in par-
ticular being Buddhism. “Western philosophies are very focused on
the future and the past, and Eastern philosophies are more focused on
the now.” Many of the students seem to agree with this philosophy of
concentrating on the actual experience of life, and “not the planning
or regretting,” as one of them added.
Above all other theories briefly men-
tioned, like organic and digital time, it was
this idea of Buddhism that especially struck
home when exploring the whole purpose of
the Crossover class. It is about being in the
moment, which is ultimately what this class
is about as well. Truth be told, it is seemingly
unplanned and spontaneous, but that’s the
beauty of it. Digging deeper into this East-
ern philosophy resulted in the realization that
individualism is not as preva-
lent as it is here. Not that it
would be entirely eliminated
of course, but once again, here
was this Crossover idea making
perfect sense. Eastern philos-
ophy meets Western. You see, this isn’t Me-
lissa, Page, or Katherine’s story. It isn’t Carol
Bankerd’s either. It’s all of theirs. I think it’s
important to many, if not all of them, that this
point be stressed. The priority is to collaborate—
to come together and produce something
that no one person could alone.
With that being said, it’s clear what this
course means to the students who have taken
or are taking it. Yet, what Crossover means to
its founder is something a bit more personal
and reserved. “What does it mean to you?” I
ask Carol. The mere fact that it takes Carol a
few moments to respond shows that it means
more to her than she can probably describe
right off the bat. A poignant, clear-cut re-
sponse is soon articulated: “It represents to me
the dynamic of the student body at Purchase,
and reinforces fully the flexible minds of the
student body.” It’s a wonderful response, but
it doesn’t contain the enthusiasm
which has become an expected
response from Carol Bankerd.
And then she says, “It just thrills
me when I see it… and I see it.”
17
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