I read in a book – ‘Into Thin Air,’ by Jon Krakauer – that a young man biked all the way from northern Europe to the Himalayas to climb Everest (obviously, not by bike), but then, warned of incoming bad weather, gave up and turned back. Very, very wise choice, as the frozen bodies of many careless person dot the climbing paths.
This story reminded me of a student named Silla, who, unlike the Roman leader of the same name, was mild-mannered and shy. Silla had come from Mali to study architecture, and got over my exam not standing out, but showing application and good will. It didn’t take long for me to realize that he had made, in his third year of study, a much more arduous journey than any Italian student.
After that I didn’t see him again, but a few years later he came back to ask for his thesis. He told me about his hard life, and that to support himself he worked as a hodman in building yards. He wasn’t a liar, you could see it right away, and his hands testified to it, as did the pencils and scraps of paper he used for his drawings.
Now, there are various types of students and various types of theses, and it is a good idea to choose on a case-by-case basis the theme that seems most suitable for the undergraduate. To Silla I suggested one that was within his reach, both in terms of difficulty and time commitment, and also in terms of cost, considering that a thesis in Architecture can involve a remarkable expense. So, with great effort Silla was able to draw what was strictly necessary, but his sheets of paper made it clear how painful the elaboration of that poor project had been.
On the other hand, in many years as a thesis commission member, I had seen all sorts of events, so I felt I could bring this student to the discussion trusting in the understanding of the commissioners. Silla, like Dorando Petri, arrived at the finish line of his marathon without any more strength.
But unfortunately there was no understanding, not even a hint. Case more unique than rare, Silla was not admitted to the discussion: the president denied the admission not so much for the content of the thesis, but for how it had been presented, and not a single voice was raised to support the student, despite the fact that some professors were known for their ethical and social openings. All lies.
Silla said nothing, not a word; only his eyes said many things, but no one wanted to see them.
Incidentally, that icy president some time later ended up in the newspapers for having stolen a purse in a store: but he had chosen his victim badly, because he was a magistrate who chased him not only up the stairs and into the offices of the University, but then, obviously, into the courtrooms, where he was sentenced.
Of the mild-mannered Malian boy I knew nothing more: after some research on the net, it did not turn out that he had graduated. He probably returned to his homeland without having reached the top of his Everest.