The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know

What should Kale University's motto be?

What should Kale University's motto be?

About a week after the heating system was fixed, my philosophy professor reminded me of why I had come to Kale in the first place. I was sitting in a circle with my fellow students when Professor Caldwell told us that she was giving us a new assignment. At first, I was a little bit worried. Was this a paper? Would I be able to write another one of those? I felt as if the many papers that my other professors had assigned me were draining words from my brain. Does creativity ever run out? If such a thing is possible, then surely school was speeding up the process. Perhaps Brendon was right, and I would never use a day of my education, if only because that education was destroying my creativity and self-expression.

My fears dissipated when Professor Caldwell handed out a description of the assignment. "As you can see, your assignment is to create a motto for Kale University," she explained. "It is due at this time next week, and although there is no written component to the assignment, you must be able to verbally defend your choice in front of the class. The motto can be anything that you would like, but it must represent your values, the values of Kale University, or the values that a Kale University education should develop and demonstrate."

The girl sitting next to me raised her hand. "I don't understand what we're supposed to do," she said. "Can you give us an example of a good motto, Professor?"

"I believe that last year's motto is a fantastic example," Professor Caldwell said. "A student last year submitted 'I don't just want to be a footnote in someone else's happiness' for this project, which summed up both her own values and the independent spirit of the Kale University student body."

Already, my heart was racing. This was the moment that I had been waiting for. The idea that Kale philosophy students picked a new motto for the school each year had excited me ever since I first discovered the school. Now, it was my turn to propose a new school motto that would appear on all of the promotional material for the next year. Ideas buzzed around my brain, but none of them seemed quite right.

Professor Caldwell continued to explain the project. "After all of you present your mottos next week, myself and the rest of the philosophy department will select the three mottos that best represent Kale University and send them out to the remainder of the student body. Your peers will ultimately decide what Kale University's motto will be for the upcoming school year."

The boy across from me raised his hand and asked, "Can you vote for your own motto?"

"Let's discuss that if you get to that stage, Eduardo," Professor Caldwell said. "Are there any other questions?"

That was possibly the worst question to ask in a room full of philosophy students. Professor Caldwell ended up answering our questions for the rest of class, some of which were only tangentially related to the motto assignment. I could hardly conceal my excitement. This was the kind of project that I had come to Kale University for. There were so many different words and phrases that could make good mottos, and as Professor Caldwell spoke, I tried to piece them together into a slogan that would embody everything that Kale University stood for.

However, when I left Morals, Values, and Ethics, I realized that I didn't really have any great ideas for a motto. I couldn't stop thinking about it, but everything that I could come up with seemed too wordy, too complicated to explain easily, or too much like a mindless regurgitation of something that I had read somewhere else. All of the best ideas had already been used, leaving only the leftovers for people like me. For an assignment that I had been so enthusiastic about, I struggled to come up with something worthy of such a project.

That night, I went to the Aubergine to clear my mind. I explained my predicament to Brendon, who simply replied, "How am I supposed to help you with that?"