Spare Thoughts: Nice to be recognized

By Sophia Potter
Editor in Chief

Last Friday, Oct. 4, I finished out a busy week by attending the LCC Scholarship Breakfast, where I was scheduled to be recognized for an award. While I had no idea what to expect going into the event, it ended up having quite an impact on me.

All I knew before showing up was that there would be food, it was happening in a venue I had never been to, and there was a chance I would have to stand and wave at some point. What I had not realized is that I would be sitting with the very people who chose my art to receive the award – and chose to start the scholarship in the first place.

Getting to meet members of the Zimmerman family was very special. In honor of Eric Hardy Zimmerman, the Eric Zimmerman Visual Arts Fund enables the purchase of student artwork to be displayed in public and commons areas on the campus of LCC.

Eric Zimmerman graduated from East Lansing High School in 1967 and received his BFA and MFA from the University of Michigan. The Visual Arts Fund is a purchase award with up to six $500 awards available. I was honored to be one of those accepted for the award.

There wasn’t a ton of time to talk between the food and several moving speakers, but the Zimmermans were kind and accommodating. They were so excited to get to know us and hear about our art as well, which made the experience of selling my first piece through the scholarship feel more real.

One of my favorite parts was one I was not expecting: the speakers. Ranging from students who had won scholarships to donors who made them possible, each had a unique story that helped me feel closer to my community at LCC.

As the morning wrapped up, LCC President Dr. Steve Robinson asked the award winners to stand and be recognized. Sitting toward the front, I stood up and stared out into a sea of both familiar and new faces.

Having only been at LCC for a semester, I still often feel I’ve met so many people, and that is true. Being at the scholarship breakfast helped me realize how many fantastic people there are at the college who I have yet to meet.

It is easy to dismiss something like a scholarship breakfast as silly – and a lot of parts of it were. The giant guitar hanging from the ceiling, the complimentary engraved ice cream scoops, even the fact that the scholarship recipients had big gold stars on their name tags made me giggle.

What’s wrong with silly, though? Life feels very heavy for most of us right now. Nothing feels better in times like these than to be surrounded and uplifted by your community. Laughing along the way is an added bonus.