Despite his intimidating look, UC San Diego’s Batman is a scholar identical to the remainder of us. He wakes up within the morning, goes to class, and on the finish of his trifling day, the UCSD Batman takes a much-needed nap. The actual motion begins after darkish, when he slips on his masks, places on his cape, and emerges from his cave from 11 p.m. to six a.m.
Drawn to Batman’s mysterious persona, the Lifestyle staff reached out to seek out out extra about our resident superhero. Even along with his busy schedule of vigilantism, we have been fortunate sufficient to take a seat Batman down for an interview and listen to about his nights of crime-fighting. In the method, we discovered some worthwhile life classes — realizing Batman will not be as threatening as his social media presence could counsel.
Lesson #1: Batman is at all times watching.
As UCSD’s resident defender of justice, Batman is all too aware of hazard. With on a regular basis he spends battling villains, there isn’t any manner he can presumably bear in mind all of his near-death encounters. However, upon questioning, Batman delved into the scariest crime-fighting expertise he has had up to now.
One night time, simply exterior of Geisel Library, Batman noticed a determine within the distance. He immediately acknowledged this particular person as a villain, locking eyes with them for just a few seconds earlier than his aura scared them into the foggy night time, by no means to be seen once more. If you’re interested by how Batman knew this was a villain, he stated, “I know a good-hearted student when I see one.”
This terrifying brush with villainy serves to remind us that Batman will at all times be there for UCSD. If you ever really feel unsafe on campus, you may depend on our resident vigilante to indicate up and throw a threatening stare — or name a scholar neighborhood service officer escort to stroll you residence. Either manner, evil doesn’t stand an opportunity.
Lesson #2: Grades are momentary, Batman’s retribution is ceaselessly.
Of course, Batman wouldn’t be Batman with out the Joker. The caption on the UCSD Batman’s first Instagram post was a warning to all villains who wished to convey hurt to UCSD: “Hiding in plain sight will not make you safe.” One of the principle targets of this submit was, in fact, the UCSD Pisser — a person who made it their purpose to urinate in varied spots throughout campus. Batman has detained not only one however many who declare the mantle of the UCSD Pisser, stopping them from additional defacing the King Triton statue.
But this begs the query: What pushes college students to enact such heinous acts of villainy on campus? Batman stated it might be the results of “one too many hard midterms or finals.” On a campus so hooked up to tutorial excellence, college students’ mental pursuits could allow them to get carried away and pulled into nefarious actions.
Batman’s message, nevertheless, is that college students mustn’t let these stressors trigger them to deface their college. A failed midterm is momentary; it’s how people change their lives and campus for the higher that really issues.
Lesson #3: There’s extra to life than superpowers.
Batman’s tales paint an thrilling image of vigilantism, so it’s no shock that many college students are actually in search of to emulate him. In truth, Batman states that a whole lot of his friends have reached out to him on social media, asking how they will develop into UCSD superheroes of their very own. While he thinks the concept of getting a number of superheroes working round campus is fantastic, he reminds us that you just don’t essentially must put on a fancy dress to be heroic.
Batman leaves us with an important lesson of all: Anybody generally is a hero. Heroism will be simply so simple as the methods college students assist one another out or make one another giggle. Your distinctive presence is a superpower, and our campus wouldn’t be the identical with out it.
Not a whole lot of universities can say they’ve a Batman of their very own. However, at UCSD — the place we eat complete rotisserie chickens and throw watermelons off of tall buildings — he matches in completely. Whether or not you select to placed on a cape of your individual, UCSD wants heroes such as you to assist construct neighborhood.