Anthony Burgess’ “A Clockwork Orange” (1962), with its intuitive vocabulary, has inspired me to document my linguistic environments. I will write about a different environment each week without explaining any vocabulary used. My hope is that readers will gradually learn what these words mean as they read on and notice if I insert a word that does not belong. Through this, I will explore belonging: does knowing the words of an environment help increase belonging, even if one has never been in the environment themselves?
12345678910finals! That’s our trimester system we have three terms and we work a lot so we get reading period and Thanksgiving to New Year’s off. The Lawrence Busy is how we make 10 weeks even harder on ourselves and we take more than 18 units and could even overload if we didn’t have LUBZ LUJE LUCC etc etc etc every night 24 hours long commitment. The Lawrence Difference. Light more light or be the light where’s the light? At the end of the tunnel? Four years later for BA BMus BMA or 5 if you’re a double degree. Go to the Con to the Chapel Harper Couches 163 146 room 4. Go to studio studio hug studio love studio supper and Tim! Take a picture of the nipple (of knowledge) if you’re Molly and go to the Mudd or Warch or across Main Hall Green which way is faster? I can’t remember anymore but one way is seconds faster. Oh wait wait Yellow Lights are Flashing! stop don’t get hit. That’s the Lawrence Difference. And Shoutbox BARN Rock spray paint Sage Rage Cage Cultural Expressions President Burstein Stanley scoop of ice cream FRST pop the bubble UNIC 117 President’s Ball recitals operas Beta Colman lofts Bon App SLUG these are the differences that probably got you to come here. It’s maybe different or the same since you had welcome week and class colors and CORE and planting trees and making new friends and meeting your profs (Dave!) but it is still sort of the same. I mean I miss main hall and the old meal plan where we could budget in the commons with term roll over and hour-long meals with friends and Bjork and remember that time after we ate together we saw Elijah? I even miss the river bugs! But they’ll come soon. And con prom and senior streak and I don’t know about the VR but VR and laying on the Green as some say or late-night walks to get 11:30pm cheese curds with cul cash or viking gold and bagels until 10 p.m.! Or C-Store gummy worms yes please. Yeet ourselves into the Fox River but go to the Wriston Turnaround then Trever see Kevin! Kevin from Campus Safety! And RLAs to CAs but still RHDs and fire alarms everywhereeee and #1 in a bottle in Plantz and #2 in Sage shower Valentine’s Day 2019 meme meme Lawrence meme page is that the Lawrence Difference? Yes. Shoutout to 4th floor Sage bad bathroom hair everywhere too warm 80 degrees during the Polar Vortex. Despite that this place is so great we love LU we are Lawrentians all of us we’ll have Commencement in-person or Zoom but still in June still late. Grad band maybe and see the arches and I know it’s summer in this sentence but it’s winter now let’s sled on Memorial Hill let’s walk on the new bridge let’s enjoy Hiett Colman Plantz Ormsby Sage not necessarily Brokaw or Trever and hopefully not Kohler tower of purity and quarantine. Honor the Pledge. Saliva testing yes to gum and chicken and lemon in the wellness center. We love it here or sometimes don’t but we’ll make it through. But to those graduating this term next term next year or the year after or the year after or the year after, good luck. Your reunion year will come soon enough. Thanks for reading this column. Read The Lawrentian, Lawrentians.
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This column has been very interesting for me as a Linguistics and English major, and I believe I would like to do something with this for my capstone. Thank you so much!