--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [The whole first year at university] was…" description: "\"[The whole first year at university] was a great time for me and great time of awakening.\" — Bill Ayers" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37e/bill-ayers-1848_awakening_the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a_193300.jpg" --- # \[The whole first year at university\] was a great time for… ![“[The whole first year at university] was a great time for me and great time of awakening.” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37e/bill-ayers-1848_awakening_the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a_193300.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37e/bill-ayers-1848_awakening_the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a_193300.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37e/bill-ayers-1848_awakening_the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a_193300.jpg) > “\[The whole first year at university\] was a great time for me and great time of awakening.” [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reflecting on a transformative first university year that sparked awakening. **In simple terms:** College can be a period of personal revelation. Key Takeaway Embrace learning opportunities that expand awareness. Themes education awakening growth Mood nostalgic reflective Type personal inspirational When to use this quote - student life - career decisions - self‑discovery Key Concepts psychology development Questions to Reflect On - How did that year change your perspective? - What awakening moments shaped you? A Different Perspective Not all experiences are positive; some may cause disillusionment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awakening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awakening/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Great time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-time/) [Great times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-times/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) [University Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university-great-1477122/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) [Year University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/year-university-2036787/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [It's a great time to be alive and be a computer weenie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-lehenbauer/it-s-a-great-time-to-be-alive-and-be-a-computer-weenie/) [Karl Lehenbauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-lehenbauer/) > [Meditation essentially means having a great time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/meditation-essentially-means-having-a-great-time/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I have had a great time as president.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/i-have-had-a-great-time-as-president/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Sam, had a great time this weekend but the golf was lousey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-quayle/sam-had-a-great-time-this-weekend-but-the-golf-was-lousey/) [Dan Quayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-quayle/) > [I hate to say it, but I had a great time in World War II.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/i-hate-to-say-it-but-i-had-a-great-time-in-world-war-ii/) [Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/) > [I think that it's a great time to be a designer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-scher/i-think-that-it-s-a-great-time-to-be-a-designer/) [Paula Scher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-scher/) > [I don't think successful musicians were really put on this planet in order to have a great time, pat themselves on the back and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-anderson/i-don-t-think-successful-musicians-were-really-put-on-this-planet-in/) [Ian Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-anderson/) > [We had met with Ben Stiller here in LA when I was shooting The Ring and he was doing Meet The Fockers and we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-watts/we-had-met-with-ben-stiller-here-in-la-when-i-was-shooting-the-ring/) [Naomi Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-watts/) > [I prefer to have a great time and to keep my wits about me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-prefer-to-have-a-great-time-and-to-keep-my-wits-about-me/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [When you're going broke, it's best to have a great time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-kochilas/when-you-re-going-broke-it-s-best-to-have-a-great-time/) [Diane Kochilas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-kochilas/) > [You've got to remember that 25 is a great time because, you know, you're passed that 21 thing and it's a high point, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-wonder/you-ve-got-to-remember-that-25-is-a-great-time-because-you-know-you/) [Stevie Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-wonder/) > [I had a great time working on the movies, both the major movies I've done. I've had a great time. I like the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-franken/i-had-a-great-time-working-on-the-movies-both-the-major-movies-i-ve/) [Al Franken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-franken/) > [ I had a great time working with Denis \[Villeneuve\] and the whole group. It was a very different kind of a part \[in Story… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stuhlbarg/i-had-a-great-time-working-with-denis-villeneuve-and-the-whole-group/) [Michael Stuhlbarg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stuhlbarg/) > [I had a great time being a salesman because of the pitches that I gave when I was selling shoes. However, I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hart/i-had-a-great-time-being-a-salesman-because-of-the-pitches-that-i/) [Kevin Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hart/) > [You've got each other's back. I think if everyone shows up with that attitude, then everybody has a great time, and I think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-pfeiffer/you-ve-got-each-other-s-back-i-think-if-everyone-shows-up-with-that/) [Michelle Pfeiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-pfeiffer/) ## More by Bill Ayers > [ It wasn't \[Barack\] Obama per se; it was the feeling on the ground; it was seeing an old black woman in a wheelchair being… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/it-wasn-t-barack-obama-per-se-it-was-the-feeling-on-the-ground-it-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I didn't respond to people thrusting microphones at me and asking me questions that were unanswerable in a sound bite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-didn-t-respond-to-people-thrusting-microphones-at-me-and-asking-me/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I haven't been silent. I teach, I lecture at universities, I write, I'm not silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-haven-t-been-silent-i-teach-i-lecture-at-universities-i-write-i-m/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ One of the great crimes of the Bloomberg/Klein administration \[in New York City\] is that they've removed themselves from communities, as if communities have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/one-of-the-great-crimes-of-the-bloomberg-klein-administration-in-new/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I was involved in the anti-war movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-involved-in-the-anti-war-movement/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[Lyndon \] Johnson was responding to a black freedom movement that was tearing the country open and he did what he had to do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/lyndon-johnson-was-responding-to-a-black-freedom-movement-that-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ I'm wary of government. Part of \[the Tea Party\] impulse is to dislike and be worried about the rich. I'm that way too. So… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-m-wary-of-government-part-of-the-tea-party-impulse-is-to-dislike/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ I'd been arrested many times by then. I'd been an organizer, so many things had changed over those three years \[from 1965 till 1968\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-d-been-arrested-many-times-by-then-i-d-been-an-organizer-so-many/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [You cannot live a political life, you cannot live a moral life if you're not willing to open your eyes and see the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/you-cannot-live-a-political-life-you-cannot-live-a-moral-life-if-you/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I was a good liberal in some sense at that point. I wanted to end a war. I wanted to support the civil rights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-a-good-liberal-in-some-sense-at-that-point-i-wanted-to-end-a/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The fact is that in my prep school, I went to a boarding school, 39 young men graduated from that prep school. Five years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-fact-is-that-in-my-prep-school-i-went-to-a-boarding-school-39/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The truth is that the antiwar movement was powered by the working class. The students were the ones that got the media and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-truth-is-that-the-antiwar-movement-was-powered-by-the-working/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [There was one moment when J. Edgar Hoover and us had the same distorted lens about who we were - "a real threat," you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/there-was-one-moment-when-j-edgar-hoover-and-us-had-the-same/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Every politician - FDR, Lyndon Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama - they're all conservative by nature. They are part of the big thing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/every-politician-fdr-lyndon-johnson-abraham-lincoln-barack-obama-they/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [It transmitted because on the campuses, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was recruiting, was organizing. Students for a Democratic Society was founded at Michigan just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/it-transmitted-because-on-the-campuses-student-nonviolent/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) [Explore all 204 Bill Ayers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## More Awakening quotes > [It is natural that our minds replay old stories, because that is our own mechanism for trying to work out unresolved problems. Yet rerunning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-brach/it-is-natural-that-our-minds-replay-old-stories-because-that-is-our/) [Tara Brach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-brach/) > [Imitation is the first instinct of the awakening mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/imitation-is-the-first-instinct-of-the-awakening-mind/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [“It is not so much about fighting against the ego; it is more about harmonizing with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-sara/it-is-not-so-much-about-fighting-against-the-ego-it-is-more-about/) [Grace Sara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-sara/) > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [“Low states are a like a poison to the psyche. Millions of people throughout the world take tranquillizers each day to combat depression, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/belsebuub/low-states-are-a-like-a-poison-to-the-psyche-millions-of-people/) [Belsebuub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/belsebuub/) > [The awakening of the soul to its bondage and its effort to stand up and assert itself - this is called life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-awakening-of-the-soul-to-its-bondage-and-its-effort-to-stand-up/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [My political awakening, if I can be as grand as to call it that, was all about what was happening around me. It wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/my-political-awakening-if-i-can-be-as-grand-as-to-call-it-that-was/) [Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/) > [How often have you sailed in my dreams. And now you come in my awakening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-often-have-you-sailed-in-my-dreams-and-now-you-come-in-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“CWC (Church Women Concerned) enabled us as women in that part of South Africa, to see ourselves as ordinary citizens who found themselves in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sindiwe-magona/cwc-church-women-concerned-enabled-us-as-women-in-that-part-of-south/) [Sindiwe Magona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sindiwe-magona/) > [I feel there is a great spiritual awakening on the planet right now. More than any previous time, people are drawn to meditation, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agapi-stassinopoulos/i-feel-there-is-a-great-spiritual-awakening-on-the-planet-right-now/) [Agapi Stassinopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agapi-stassinopoulos/) > [When I was 20 years old, I got cast in 'Spring Awakening' and got swept up in this experience where it was kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-groff/when-i-was-20-years-old-i-got-cast-in-spring-awakening-and-got-swept/) [Jonathan Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-groff/) > [Motivation is awakening own mind and Inspiration is arising spirit in others to find their own with their heart and soul in all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj/motivation-is-awakening-own-mind-and-inspiration-is-arising-spirit-in/) [Anuj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [Life is perhaps best regarded as a bad dream between two awakenings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/life-is-perhaps-best-regarded-as-a-bad-dream-between-two-awakenings/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [“The Illusion - The source of suffering can be linked back to a condition of the mind that creates the illusion of separation--the state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-blanchard/the-illusion-the-source-of-suffering-can-be-linked-back-to-a/) [L.M.Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-blanchard/) [Browse all 1,440 Awakening quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awakening/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "[The whole first year at university] was a great time for me and great time of awakening.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill Ayers" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a-great-time-for-me-and-great/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Awakening" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a-great-time-for-me-and-great/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37e/bill-ayers-1848_awakening_the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a_193300.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37e/bill-ayers-1848_awakening_the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a_193300.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37e/bill-ayers-1848_awakening_the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a_193300.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[The whole first year at university] was a great time for me and great time of awakening.” — Bill Ayers", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bill Ayers", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "[The whole first year at university]...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a-great-time-for-me-and-great/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a-great-time-for-me-and-great/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```